http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZRMpxUniOw
And he still takes off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZRMpxUniOw
And he still takes off
Back in the 70's I had a business partner who had done two West Pac cruises on the Oriskany: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oriskany_(CV-34)
Most of their cold cat shots went very wrong. Some of the pilots ditched in the ocean and were recovered, but some ejected before the plane left the deck and died when they landed on the flight deck, since their altitude was to low to deploy their automatic parachutes.
Beginning with the Gerald Ford, the navy is moving to electromagnetic launch systems instead of steam. Unfortunately, there are bugs that need to be worked out.
They might need some of that water to clean off the pilot seat.
That video is many years old. I was trying to see the number on the flight deck and all I could make out was a 4. The carrier could be 41 or 43 or...a very old carrier.
Those older carriers's flight decks were maybe 50 feet off the water level where the Nimitz class carriers are 90 feet off the water. Also, the Cat Officer is supposed to watch the roll of the deck so that the cat stroke doesn't sling the bird into the water but up into the air.
I spent two years on the Midway (CV-41) and one year on the Nimitz (CVN-68) so I know a little bit about it.
As for the newest class of carriers, I don't know how high the flight deck is.