ORIGINAL: treespider
Are both pictures bogus?
If you are talking about post 15 or 16 (I think) with the zoomed out view of the carrier and the air craft out in front, it's a little harder to tell.
I'd guess its not real. My guess would be that on that picture, the carrier is accurate and real. But the plane taking off doesn't fit the norm, at all. Technically, its possible. I've seen some take-offs that cleared the flight deck and the tower.
It's been many years and I forget what the command is. But there is an order given which means abandon the tower and the deck. I've was on board once when a take off was bad and the order to clear the deck was given. People were jumping off the sides of the deck and etc. When that order is given, you don't ask, you jump. Now just off to the sides of the deck and down a little, are some nets that extend out about six feet to catch anyone. Its not like they are jumping into the ocean, but anyone that doesn't know might think they just did.
Even during that particular episode, the plane taking off did not have a trajectory resembling the plane in the picture (in post 15 or 16). I've never seen an F-14 or an FA-18 dip, ever, as it takes off the deck. Now the big mail carrying planes, that's another story. But the one in that picture just isn't right, based on anything I've seen. For it to be dipped down like that, it would definately be having some extreme mechanical issue. But the biggest issue is that all those people are standing on the deck. That screams fake to me. You just don't have flight controllers standing around up in front of the cats watching them zoom past as they take off. It just doesn't happen. So I'd say its fake.
