Flight Deck: A Pictorial Essay of a Day in the Life of an Airdale (Part 1)

Flight Deck is a compilation of 201 photographs of activities on the flight deck of a large World War II aircraft carrier. These photos were derived from originals located at the National Archives. They consist of all varieties of activities taking place on the flight deck of a carrier, whether they are of air operations or activities between air operations. The chapters include Ship and Aircraft, External Activities, Flight Deck Activities, and Launch Activities. Each photo, 5 by 7-inches in size, has a page of text devoted to the description of that photo. These photos have never, to the author's knowledge, been presented in such a number, and to the author's knowledge, no book has ever addressed itself exclusively to flight deck activities. In this, it is truly unique. An Airdale's duties involved the pulling of wheelchocks during launch operations, the placing of wheelchocks during parking operations, and the respotting of the aircraft after air operations (i.e., pushing aircraft from here to there). The day was full because on the U.S.S. Antietam (CV-36), there were two air operations a day consisting of essentially one hundred aircraft per operation. Being a training ship, the author and his crew had air operations essentially every day for a thirteen-month period (with about one month of that time in port). There is no mention of these liberties because the most they received was a half-day ashore. The text is geared toward both the actual mechanics of what an Airdale did on the flight deck, as well as the thoughts and feelings of this Airdale. At the same time, a little philosophy is included in the process of describing the implications of dealing with many high-powered aircraft with all the attendant noise, the ferocious wind, and those fearsome, slashing propeller blades. As said in the text, the job of an Airdale, though simpleminded, was definitely not simple.