Synopsis

90,000 tons of steel churns across the Atlantic Ocean carrying over 5,000 people, 70 jet planes, and a mission to protect and maintain the interests of its homeland. An aircraft carrier is truly a floating city, operating as a movable four-and-a-half acre military base with more destructive power on board than was utilized throughout the entirety of World War II.

In short, aircraft carriers are awe-inspiring miracles of modern engineering. Travel with the crew of the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy to experience the danger, loneliness and adventure of life at sea. Follow Navy pilots through their rigid carrier training, and watch an army of people and machines prepare to do their part in assuring safe takeoffs and landings for the 150 flights each day. Then get inside the cockpit and fly wingtip to wingtip with another F-18 before landing safely back home on the JFK.

Spending six months away from friends and family is difficult, and the confined spaces of a carrier can magnify the loneliness of life at sea. Seamen give details about close-quarter living, and Navy wives describe their struggles when their husbands leave on long deployments. Looking ahead to the next century of aircraft carriers, visit the largest ship building facility in the United States, Newport News Shipbuilding, where they work diligently on the sleek design of the new CVX, set for construction in 2004. Finally, learn how these tremendous ships are constructed and rigorously tested. Consider yourself enlisted for a luxury cruise of a different kind.