Deck

Hangar Deck / "Deck Gang"

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The Hangar Deck on the Kharon is where all primary maintenance on Vipers and Raptors is done. Only having one "Flight Pod" (known as the Flight Deck), the Hangar resides directly below the recovery area for all spacecraft. While the larger Battlestars carry, according to canon, four squadrons of Vipers, the Kharon is barely large enough to hold two - even though we will only be running one official one (call it 'overstrength'). This difficulty is supplemented by the fact that including Viper and Raptor Bays, Hangar Bay One also includes six Viper launch tubes on each side of the Deck as well as the primary operations of the Air Wing taking up the Fore end of this Deck.

The Deck Crew itself is made up mainly of enlisted ratings with one overall enlisted in charge of the day-to-day operations: The Deck Chief. There are officers allotted to this Department and the DH is the Landing Systems Operator (LSO), but the majority of officers don't deal with the day to day maintenance of the Air Wing in the same fashion that the mechanics do. However, every crewmember pulls a heavy load with this being one of the busiest departments on a carrier during wartime. And, in addition to the normal Deck Crew, Munitions (bullets, missiles, etc) fall under this category with the Ordnance Elevator down to storage located in Hangar Bay Three. Damage control operations (firefighting, etc.) fall jointly under the Deck department and Engineering department.

Job Specifications

Personnel below the rate of Petty Officer are trained as specialists in one of three fields: Aircraft Technician, Munitions Technician, and Aircrew Equipment Specialist. For promotion to Petty Officer and above, a crew member is expected to broaden their knowledge in all specializations in order to effectively lead a multi-disciplinary team. Chiefs and Petty Officers will stand watches in overall charge of the Flight Deck, its safety, and operational readiness.

  • LSO - The Landing Systems Operator is the Department Head of the Deck. This concept should be familiar with mechanical aspects of the deck crew, munitions handling, and would ideally be a former pilot. The Landing Signals Officer is ultimately responsible for making sure that the aircraft of the fleet find safe routes to their destinations. And whatever the mission, whether in peace or war, they have the equally essential role of making sure the aircraft return home safely.
  • Deck Chief - This is the senior enlisted of the Hangar and Flight Decks. They are not necessarily the highest ranking enlisted on board, though. The Deck Chief handles the day to day activities on the Decks, organizes the enlisted crews and ensures that the Vipers, Raptors, and other ships are repaired and function properly. The Deck Chief should have a background as something else within the Deck and that should be specified within all applications, including Aircraft Tech, Munitions Tech, or Aircrew Equipment.
  • Aircraft Technician (Electrical or Mechanical) - These are Deck personnel that repair the Vipers, Raptors, and shuttles. A char can specialize in Electrical, Mechanical, or both if they have the time and experience. Electrical will deal more in the avionics systems, DRADIS, and landing systems. Mechincal Techs will deal more with the physical labor including repairing aircraft skin, landing gears, engines, deep repairs to the aircraft itself or anything else.
  • Munitions Technician - These chars, members of the Deck Crew, deal specifically with the ordnance on board the Kharon. They operate the lift and load systems for moving the munitions out of the Ordnance Bay as well as the loading and unloading of all weapons systems. They deal with anything on the Vipers and Raptors that involve guns or missiles to include the targeting and gun systems.
  • Aircrew Equipment Specialist - These Deck members are in charge of a few specific areas that nobody else is to touch: Ejection seats, flight suits, helmets, and all survival gear issued to pilots. If there is any single group that ensures the survival of a pilot in combat, it is them. They ensure that if anything else fails, the pilot still has a chance to make it home alive. These are also the aircraft handlers aboard the Kharon. While everyone in the fleet is trained in firefighting duties, AES's also train in specialist aircraft-crash firefighting and rescue duties. They also learn to maintain safety and security standards in aircraft hangars and carry out routine maintenance on all the equipment used.

Training

Trainee deck crew are assigned tasks and duties under the supervision of more experienced personnel, learning as they work in order to maximize the effectiveness of the department and ensure key maintenance continues uninterrupted.

Each trainee is issued a training log book according to their specialty and sub-specialty, and each task must be observed and signed off by an authorized senior crew member before the trainee may be considered for promotion.

General Deck Training Logbook

Aviation Support Operations

  • Define common aviation terms, abbreviations and nomenclature.
  • Know the designation systems for fleet aircraft.
  • Identify major structural components of an aircraft.
  • Identify basic types of aircraft power plants.
  • Identify basic types of aircraft electronics and armament.
  • Know the general purposes of aircraft pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical and cable control systems.
  • Know the color codes and markings used for aircraft lines, tubes and hoses.
  • Read aircraft quantity, temperature and pressure gauges and instruments.
  • Stand fire watch during fueling/defueling and starting of aircraft.
  • Perform duties as a member of an aircraft handling team for launch and recovery of aircraft.
  • Secure and tie down aircraft.
  • Ride brakes of aircraft being towed or pushed.
  • Operate mobile equipment around aircraft.
  • Know the general types of aircraft handling equipment.
  • Clean, service and lubricate aircraft handling equipment.
  • Know the general methods of handling ship based fleet aircraft.
  • Identify and know the purpose of general aviation support equipment.
  • Service aircraft servicing equipment and tools.
  • Connect and disconnect external power cables for starting and servicing aircraft.
  • Service aircraft with oil, fuel, hydraulic fluid, and nitrogen/air.

Mechanical Maintenance

  • Install common aircraft safety and locking devices.
  • Use common aircraft screws, nuts, bolts and measuring tools.

Fabrication and Manufacturing

  • Assemble, handle, clean and preserve aircraft tie-downs.

Electrical/Electronic Maintenance

  • Connect/disconnect aircraft batteries.

Corrosion Control and Material Preservation

  • Inspect aircraft visually for evidence of rust, corrosion and pitting.

Safety

  • Know the markings indicating dangerous areas on aircraft and flight decks.
  • Know the toxic properties of aircraft cleaning materials.
  • Know the procedures for extinguishing fires caused by hot brakes.
  • Carry out general procedures for gaining entrance to aircraft under emergency conditions.
  • Know when an ejection seat is armed/safe.

General Watch standing

  • Stand aircraft security watch.

Naval Orientation and Organization

  • Know the general organization of the deck.
  • Know the general functions of squadrons, departments and divisions for aviation activities.
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