Sailors assigned to the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) tested the carriers catapult one by performing a ‘no-load’ test on January 28.
The success of this firing marked another milestone in the ship’s Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) process.
Captain Ron L. Ravelo , Lincoln’s commanding officer, was the first “shooter” to give the signal to launch for the first time in more than three years.
Ravelo said: “No-loads are conducted every single day by operational carriers in order to warm up the catapult in anticipation of launching aircraft. I look forward to when we are once again operational and firing no-loads in advance of actual flight operations.”
Lincoln Sailors worked alongside their counterparts at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) to overhaul the carrier’s Aircraft Launch and Recovery (ALRE) equipment.
No-load testing is required to verify the operation function of the entire catapult and provides the ship with an interim certification to launch aircraft.
The duration of testing began December 7, 2015, when all hydraulic, air and steam systems were filled and charged, culminating in 20 catapult shots with no more than five minutes of recovery time between shots.
Lincoln is currently undergoing RCOH at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries. It is also the fifth ship of the Nimitz-class to undergo RCOH.
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