Always funny to hear what you just do in an other system
The normal view is not random it's more quickest way (in terms of model positioning)to normal orientation according to selected face.
To your question, no you can't do that, this is not ProE so the ProE picking sequence doesn't work. On the other hand to achieve what you want, yes it can be done in Catia. The catia way is to use the compass:
1)Grab the compass and position it on the wanted orienting face (the compass will become green which means that it's in translation mode, if you move the compass it will move the part)
2)click in empty space to exit compass translation mode (compass becomes grey again)
3)grab the compass and release it empty space (the compass will return to upper right corner, but notice that the axis now are anmed w,u,v user defiened orientation)
4)pick on the compass the letter of the wanted orientation to orient the view
By picking the same letter again it will invert the orientation, note also that it now is preset for your 90 deg rotations by picking different letters of the compass. To reset the compass grab it and release it in empty space while holding the shift button (you can also grab and release it on the absolute reference axis, the on in lower right corner or use the view drop down menu and pick reset compass)
