Sludge Hornet Modifications

[Razgriz]

Also, on another note, the HUD will never be nearly as big as the HUD frame allows, which for some reason everyone gets wrong.

[Paddles]

And I also noticed that T-45's HUD TCN readings never drop below 0.2 

[Razgriz]

I'd like to see videos where the T-45 drifts to the right of the runway.

[SUBS17]

Nice video Sludge the shot of the Hornet going through the clouds was quite cool.

[SpazSinbad]

RazGriz commented above: "... the biggest difference that led me to making this post is that the T-45s optimal AoA for landing is 17 units.  A whopping 17 units." Units are not 'degrees of angle of attack' usually units are relative to the Optimum Angle of Attack - the be all and end all of carrier aviation.

I'll check the Hornet NATOPS but I think recall that the Opt AoA unit is also approx 17. Without looking at all the USN aircraft NATOPS for this info I would assume that today and in recent past (for example A-4 is 17.5 UNITS for Opt AoA) for standardisation purposes all AoA information is in units that are relative to the Opt AoA which is around 17. A-4 NATOPS says that the gauge is not calibrated either so any UNIT above or below Optimum is arbitrary also. The main point of the indexer is Optimum. Probably today the Hornet/Goshawk have more accurate AoA indications for cruise control at altitude. Anyway I digress - below is relevant T-45C info. Graphic will follow.... In the meantime attached are some pages from the T-45C NATOPS about AoA and how it is used.

From T-45C Goshawk NATOPS:

"AOA Indicator.
The AOA indicator functions throughout the entire flight regime to display AOA information, see Figure 2-38. The indicator registers units of AOA to the relative airstream, from 0 to 30 units. An OFF flag is visible if electrical power is lost. The indicator is set with the optimum unit setting at the 3 o’clock position.

AOA Indexer.
The AOA indexer, located on the glareshield in both cockpits, consists of three indexer lights; the upper chevron (e) is green and indicates a high (=18 units) AOA, the center donut (O) is amber and indicates the optimum (17 units) AOA, and the lower chevron (d) is red and indicates a low (=16 units) AOA. Two intermediate conditions are also indicated by illuminations of the donut (O) with the upper or lower chevron."

[Sludge]

Thanks SUBS...

One of my favorites, because along with the viewpoint you get to see flashes of a realistic collimated HUD thats "projected forward" of the actual glass so you get to focus on it and the outside environment.  Also, I like the Creed song in that video.  That was big when I was going thru primary in the summer (insanely HUMID and HOT) of '01 at NAS Corpus, brings back some fun memories.  Hehe, good ole T-34C Turbo TORMENTOR, as SNAs refer to it.

Spaz...

I think Raz has a valid point.  This is without documentation, but have a gander at these videos... if you can find some documentation FOR or AGAINST, would like to read up on it.  As of right now, I was under the opinion that 8.1 units was Optimum AoA for the Hornet to land at?  Either way, after looking at these videos, I would think its safe to say, something needs to get fixed for the T-45 HUD as the T-45 and F-18 seem to land under different optimum AoA.  If possible, just have to find out the FOR SURE, PUBLICATION-VALIDATED reasoning and implement that into the T-45 version.

Forward to :16, watch the landing, and freeze where the 15.8/15.9 AoA comes up when the AoA goes out of the plus-minus AoA "no-display" limits before he even lands.  Then watch the landing and see that 13.5 AoA shows up on touchdown.  Also, in the pattern, at 2:30, the high end of AoA displays for a few flashes and 18.6 shows up.  Also on the second landing, 15.5 comes up on touchdown.

Same with this video, watch from 1:22 on, and watch the occasional flash of 15.7/15.8 when the AoA bracket goes a little too far out of paramters.

Now, compare that with this video at 3:24 where on touchdown, the Hornet shows 6.9

Also, JR...

Dont know if you answered this or not, but I think someone was asking you about the TACAN readings for the T-45 only going to 0.2?  In all the videos Ive seen the its 0.3 crossing to 0.2 into the wires and going no lower than 0.2, so I think you have it right.

Later
Sludge

[Sludge]

The sound from the video you hear is not from the ILS, but from the altitude warning. You will notice the radar altitude starts to flash at the moment the sound alarm goes. The needles appear at that moment only by chance

JR...

This is just something to file for later, but I noticed this while watching F/A-18 HUD dogfighting vidoes.  I think it has something to do with a 10k BARO ALT, as it's common for fighters to set a hard deck of 10k.  And it goes along with the logic of your previous post about RALT warning flashing the numbers.

At 1:29 and 2:28, you'll see the ALTITUDE drop below 10k, start flashing, and the BARO ALTIMETER SETTING (QNH) comes up flashing below it.  Could this be what happens for a BARO ALT warning?

I really didnt want to bother you with this, as I've put enough on your plate, but you are a stickler for realism (good trait to have) and thought you'd want to know.

Later
Sludge

[neutrino]

Sludge, this is correct - the barometric setting should appear and flash for 5 seconds when the aircraft descends below 10,000 feet at an airspeed less than 300 kts. It's automatic, you don't have to have the alt warning set at that altitude. Remember, I told you I was working on showing the barometric setting - this is what I was working on It also comes up when you adjust it (in the simulator by pressing the 'B' key) - this was pointed to my by jimi from the fsxblueangels. Unfortunately, I had a problem with programming that 5 second interval, so the version I sent you doesn't have this functionality yet.

[Sludge]

JR...

OK, cool.  So you're aware of it and working on it.  Musta spaced-off the conversation we had about you working on it.  Sorry.

Later
Sludge

[SpazSinbad]

Sludge, Yes you were correct about the Optimum AoA setting for the Hornet being 8.1 units (degrees?). Earlier I did not have time to check and was guessing from the known Goshawk and Skyhawk OptAoA settings as indicated. The GIF graphic shows the NATOPS diagrams info for the Legacy Hornet. Looking at this info again I note that the 'degree' symbol is used instead of 'units'. I'll investigate further what this means - although it may be obvious that it is what it is (rather than using the 'units' of T-45C and A-4 for example).

Now attached is the NATOPS Legacy Hornet AoA Indexer info - once again showing 'degrees of AoA'. While the F/A-18A-D NATOPS carrier circuit diagram is thrown in for good measure. Also attached are some AoA PDF pages from the PCL (Pocket Check List) NATOPS for said Hornet.

[neutrino]

Just divide the units of AOA by two and you will get degrees of AOA 

[SpazSinbad]

Which units? (to be obscure).    GIF graphic from Legacy Hornet NATOPS shows AoA info. With a NATOPS cautionary tale about a mod which puts a discrepancy between Indexer and HUD AoA indications considered acceptable.

[Sludge]

Spaz...

Good NATOPS pulls again, to show documentation of AoA and landing configs w/AoA.  Also, one discrepancy to be considered is some of the pages shown have the -400 engine while others have the -402 engine.  For our purpurses (FSX), we need to use the -402, as the default and Sludge work on -402 engine outputs.

Later
Sludge

[SpazSinbad]

Sludge, I'll try to keep '402' engine in mind - what is seen on this thread is what is here available. Came across this nice illustration from an old PDF online about 'Field of View....' for carrier landing sims in 1980: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA087012 (3Mb) We have all come a long way to have today what is on the desktop.

[crim3]

Also, on another note, the HUD will never be nearly as big as the HUD frame allows, which for some reason everyone gets wrong.

What is shown in that picture is an effect of the collimation. If you shot the image of the HUD placing the camera close to the frame, the frame seems very big and the HUD image tiny. But if you'd see it in real life the image is always a big projection several meters away from you. An effect similar to look at a medium sized theater screen.
A shot made 2 meters away from the frame would look the opposite: a tiny frame and a very big HUD image that doesn't fit into the projection area.

Or are you refering to the projection area itself, that is quite small compared to the HUD glass?