Tom,
When you mentioned "waist cat" I had some instant flashbacks to 1965 off the coast from Seattle on the Hornet, CVS-12. It was a very cold, windy day and we were sitting on the aft end of the ship waiting to taxi forward to the catapults, I thought. Pointed down the angled deck, the Catapult Officer gave us a full power turn-up signal, followed by a launch signal. This was a shock to me as I had never done a free deck launch from a carrier deck. Being a good sailor, I released the brakes and started the take-off roll, very slowly at first. The ferocious wind sent us airborne very quickly, settling a bit below the deck after lift-off, but all was well and we turned eastward toward Seattle. This was an S-2, a twin-engine prop, Grumman aircraft that was built like a tank.
Sorry for the severe thread drift but the memory was riveting.