General Category > Unofficial F/A-18 Acceleration Pack board
VFA-143 Carrier Landing
nicka117:
Scuddy, I'm a newbie myself, but to the best of my knowledge, case I is the std daytime approach, which means you don't come out of the marshall stack and fly straight in to the back of the boat.
Typical Case I is roughly to fly by the right side of the carrier at about 800 feet and approx 350 kts. Break left at about 80 degrees, hard pull. The 3 g's on the aircraft pulls the speed down and you dirty up--flaps, gear, hook at the end of the turn. You are then flying downwind, on speed (135ish kts depending on weight?) at about 600 ft. You are about 1 mile abeam of the carrier. Just after you pass the fantail, you start turning left from what's called the 180 position. About 30 degrees angle of bank, on speed AOA, and begin slightly decending. When you complete your turn and roll wings level, you should be on centerline about 1 mile behind the boat. I guess the altitude is around 450ish. 3/4 mile, call the ball.
Now, that is fairly routine for real navy pilots, but for my ham fist and a sim, it's much harder in practice. Just trying to maintain the proper rate of decent, the proper rate of turn, and the proper speed is very difficult for me--I feel like I'm killing snakes in the cockpit. If I roll out and happen to be right in the groove, it's a miracle. Track IR helps because it's less of a surprise how bad it was when you roll out. By glancing left at the carrier, you can adjust bank, pull, and power to come out in the grrove. If you get really good with the hat switch to glance, that might work almost as well as Track IR.
Scuddy-25:
Hey mate :)
Thanks I enjoyed reading that now to put it to the test :) I have all so got the videos of the FLEET BREAK by the fsx blue angels.
I think I read this correctly in one of the NATOPS manuals that:
1. 3 Mile = 1200
2. 2 Mile = 860
3. 1 mile = 460
Ball is called at 360
It helps alot and also have my wall plastered with Documents I can refer to lol :)
Do you put up a session or something ??? I am really interested in doing some training with you if you have the time mate :)
once again thanks for the awesome advice.
"Scuddy"
dogdad:
Just a note regarding VFA 143, the Puking Dogs.
On your You Tube you show Navy 203 on Final Approach after a long sortie.
Sludge Hornet F/A-18C
The "Dogs" fly F/A 18E models and their aircraft are numbered from 100. 100 being the CAG jet. I think they go up to 114 or 115.
nicka117:
--- Quote from: Scuddy-25 on June 29, 2011, 11:15:36 pm ---Hey mate :)
Thanks I enjoyed reading that now to put it to the test :) I have all so got the videos of the FLEET BREAK by the fsx blue angels.
I think I read this correctly in one of the NATOPS manuals that:
1. 3 Mile = 1200
2. 2 Mile = 860
3. 1 mile = 460
Ball is called at 360
It helps alot and also have my wall plastered with Documents I can refer to lol :)
Do you put up a session or something ??? I am really interested in doing some training with you if you have the time mate :)
once again thanks for the awesome advice.
"Scuddy"
--- End quote ---
hey Scuddy, I don't run any multiplayer sessions. I look forward to doing so when I get better at the basic skills. What will be completely AWESOME will be the vLSO mission that FSXNavypilot is putting together. You should check it out--the thread is "greenie board possibilities"
Also, you should try his FCLP missions. The first and easiest has these little floating rings you fly through which defines the perfect Case I pattern. Much harder than it first seems, ie, easy to fly through the rings, but very hard to do it without major corrections.
Sludge:
CAPT...
I think he drops it as 0:40, cause the indexer goes steady then. But I really liked that solid glidepath flown. I tell ya, its a real treat to watch better and better passes videoed on youtube. You have some good vids and now Scuddy. Nothing like seeing new pilots fly some solid approaches and get it on video.
Scuddy...
Great vid. Proud to see you doin well. This was the whole reason I started modding what has become the Sludge in the first place. To get people emulating naval aviation in a more realistic manner. Tired of the pitiful youtube videos and seeing people FLARE the landing and then dropping the Hornet down, and all the other sad stuff out there. You are already wayy ahead of those in just the short time since you started. Seriously.
The advice Nicka gave is correct about Case I. The best way to practice is to get Orion's SFCarrier2 original mission, then install the SanDiego NATOPS carrier mission upgrade. The reason I asked Orion to develop it that way, is that the carrier heading doesnt go right into the sunlight, and the wind (32-34 kts) is very close to being down the angle deck. This way you can practice many passes with all participants using the same setup, that is close to real world.
Also, Ill have to correct you on the NATOPS "real world" vs. FSX 4.0 meatball differences. I dont have the exact numbers, but since the meatball in FSX is set for 4.0, the numbers are higher for different points. For example, at the 90, about 1.3 NM TCN, you'll be around 530... the easiest way to understand this is turn on your ICLS needles and fly the pattern with no intention to do a trap pass. Now, when you start your 180 turn, pay attention to the TCN. When you're at the 90 (TCN arrow is directly above velocity vector and points left), the glideslope needle should come up. At this point, note if the needle is high/on-GS/low; TCN distance; and RADAR ALTITUDE. Keep flying the pattern with the glideslope needle, and later the meatball, centered, and at each point (the 45 "crossing wake"; "ball call" at 0.7 TCN, 0.5 "in the middle", 0.3 "In close", 0.2 "at the ramp") pause FSX and take notations of RADAR HEIGHT and TCN distance. When done, compare to real-world NATOPS. You'll see that each point is higher because real-world flight ops commonly use a 3.5 meatball (LSO NATOPS) vs. 4.0 FSX.
To simplify... Fly the pattern a few times with the ICLS needles ON. Dont worry about what altitudes to hit at first, mainly concentrate on keeping the G/S NEEDLE on, til you get to the ball call, then use the meatball to stay on glide. Once you get used to the APPROXIMATE altitudes required, turn off the needles, and fly some patterns and passes using what you learned. You'll get to the point where it becomes automatic and alot easier. And just like real world, if you nail the Start, it helps your pass immensely.
Later
Sludge
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