Japan stalled in hunt to replace Iwo Jima as site for US carrier-landing practic

IWO JIMA, Japan — Six Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets soared in a tight loop, 600 feet high, on May 17 over this island, scene of one of the bloodiest conflicts of World War II.

Their pilots were practicing their ability to put their fast-moving, multimillion-dollar, 32,000-pound fighters onto an aircraft carrier flight deck – an area about the size of a baseball field.

One by one, they take turns aiming for a space as wide as the distance between home plate and first base. On a carrier, the jets, traveling at speeds as fast as 125 mph, must come to a complete stop in the distance between home plate and the centerfield wall.

The perilous task of landing on a carrier deck, sometimes in pitching seas, sometimes at night, with no other reference than the bobbing lights of the ship itself, takes constant, repetitive practice.

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