We spent the afternoon at the Mudway Museum starting with a guided tour of the Island (ship and flight deck command center).

Next we toured Captain’s and Admiral’s Country – Admiral’s quarters, the radio message center, and the command center used during Operation Desert Storm (the Midway’s final deployment).

We learned about take off (steam-powered catapult). The launch bar (in front of nose wheel) connects the plane to the piston. The dog bone (shear pin) connects the plane to the hold back bar (behind nose wheel). When the correct force is reached the dog bone breaks and the plane is launched.

Another talk covered landing (trap). The landing lights have a row of green lights and a vertical Fresnel lens (similar to lighthouses) in the center. The Fresnel lens reflects amber light above, below, or even with the row of green lights indicating whether the angle is too high, to low, or correct. The bottom lens is red which indicates you need to abort the landing. The landing strip is angled away from the launch runway.

We spent over four hours at the museum and still missed a lot.

We ended the day, and this trip to San Diego, on the Mission Beach boardwalk.