Howto:Carrier Landing

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Revision as of 15:33, 16 August 2018 by Vanosten (talk | contribs) (→‎NATOPS)
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Landing a Military Jet on a Carrier Tutorial by Example: The Grumman F-14B Tomcat

The content of this page is meant to guide virtual pilots of military jets on how to land safely and consistently on an Aircraft_carrier. The content of this guide is to a large extent specific to the mighty Grumman_F-14_Tomcat in FlightGear. However many tips and techniques can be used for piloting other 4th generation naval fighters (especially NATO / American like the McDonnell_Douglas_F/A-18_Hornet).

It is Difficult

Landing a jet fighter on a moving carrier again and again is simply difficult and requires many (dozens) of hours of virtual training. Real naval pilots have hundreds of landings on airports and hundreds of hours of training on the aircraft type plus significant simulator training before they are allowed to make an attempt on the real thing.

When you get the hang of it (and you will) and enjoy flying according to procedures, you will find your training time very rewarding. If it gets too easy, just chose bad weather or night and you will get challenged further.

Disclaimer and Credits

  • The author is only a hobby virtual pilot.
  • Not everything written here is according to real life.
  • Keyboard shortcuts and pictures are based on the FlightGear F-14B as of summer 2018.

NATOPS

The basic source of truth and detailed procedures is the Naval Air Systems Command 01-F14AAP-1 "NATOPS FLIGHT MANUAL NAVY MODEL F-14B AIRCRAFT", which is a nearly 1000 pages pdf manual available on the internet.

For an overview of all the stuff happening on an aircraft carrier, have a look at modern united states navy carrier air operations.

Related FlightGear Wiki Articles

Related Resources for the DCS F/A-18 Hornet

Additionally I found the following resources / videos very informative, even though they mostly relate to the DCS F/A-18C Hornet:

  • [1] - F/A-18 Pilot Gives Virtual Flyers Highly Detailed Explanation Of How To Land On A Carrier
  • [2] - YouTube video "DCS F/A-18C Basic Carrier Operations tutorial"
  • [3] - YouTube video "DCS World - F/A-18 - Case I Carrier Recovery Tutorial"
  • [4] - Chuck's DCS F/A-18C Hornet Guide (from around page 90)

Difference Between the Tomcat and the Hornet

There are three main differences between landing the F-14 Tomcat and the F/A-18 Hornet on an aircraft carrier:

  • The Tomcat is flown with an angle of attack (AoA) of ca. 15°, which is nearly double that of the Hornet.
  • The allowable gross aircraft weight at landing of the Tomcat is much larger than the Hornet
  • You do not retract the speed brake after having extended it during the level break in the Tomcat, but you do when flying the Hornet. You first retract the speed brake after landing on the carrier in the Tomcat.

Tips and Tricks

  • The aircraft should be trimmed based on the AoA indexer.
  • Come in as slow as you can whilst maintaining good control.
  • Just before you bank increase the throttle a bit, as you anticipate less lift from the wings in a turn. Similarly: just before you level out decrease the throttle a bit, as you will get less lift.
  • Do not flare before touch down. Fly the plane in a constant vector of descent into the flight deck. The carriage is constructed such that it can absorb the shock.
  • If you believe you have flown the perfect landing and should have caught the wire, but it was not picked up, then it might be that your AoA was changed. If your AoA on touchdown is to low (did you flare?), then the tail hook will slide over the cable. If your AoA was too high (did you loose confidence and pitched up in the last moment?), then the hook might bounce off the flight deck because it is absorbing the shock before the main gear does.
  • Pitching up to try to stop a too fast decent when you are on the right AoA will not help, as the additional lift is negligible or even negative. Increase the throttle.