"carrier" and bolters!

there's an excellent series on pbs now called "carrier". a film crew went out on the aircraft carrier nimitz for a long period and was given a great deal of exposure to the crew and operations. one of the episodes i just saw was on an approaching storm and the captain deciding to give the pilots some practice in rougher seas ("pitching deck" landings). it was an excellent episode and showed how difficult carrier landings can be. in this case, it was particularly tough. the ship began recovering planes (f-18s) and they had at least 15 bolters in a row i think (the plane misses the wires on the deck and does a go-around). when this happens there has to be a tanker up so that they can refuel any plane that is running low. one of the tanker pilots was somewhat concerned about being last guy back (which means there's no tanker up there for him). if you haven't seen the show (and you're interested in aviation) you should try to catch it. it also makes me realize what a weenie i am for being concerned about crosswind landings at KJYO...