Possum

Both of those will be DFCS. AFCS was gone by 2000.

I think it’s supposed to be 0/0/0 for trim, but I don’t remember for sure.

You can light them at the end of the cat shot. At night, the deck crew appreciated AB full flap climb.

Designating targets is a small part of what JTACs do.

I don’t think that was possible until the B upgrades in 2002-2003.

Mostly in agreement, except for the 2 quotes above. 1. Corner speed is not min turn radius. 2. You mention radius, but describe a rate fight.

BFM is primarily about positioning and energy states. The key to winning is in keeping sight of the other guy and being able to successfully gauge his energy state and options in relation to yours. Losing sight, or not actively keeping track = losing. Not properly recognizing the bandits energy state will result in either missed opportunities or being baited into a disadvantage. Energy management is all deciding when to convert airspeed for angles (or elevation) and when to preserve that airspeed for another opportunity. You have to know when to make that trade. Sometimes you make the trade to try and force an error, sometimes you make the trade b/c you know you’ll have a shot. 300 kts was a threshold for me. Below that was an energy sinkhole. If I was going below 300kts, my options were going to be limited and I better be bringing the bandit down there with me or trading it for a distinct positional advantage. Lastly, the Tomcat’s nose will move when you want it to, but it costs energy that isn’t easy to regain. Look up pitch/pulse, I haven’t seen it mentioned here but I’m sure it’s been talked about.

Some Navy bases had ICLS at the field.

The Tomcat ECS was exceptionally loud, I have permanent hearing damage from flying it. The helmet alone wasn’t enough protection. I don’t remember ever hearing the engines with the canopy closed. If they were audible, it had no affect on my ability to fly it. On the ground, the GEs had a very distinctive high-pitched whine in front of the jet. The Tomcat was strange in that it was louder in front of it than behind it. When it turned away, the high pitch whine gave way to a low rumble that was much easier on the ears. I didn’t notice this with any other jet.

Auto is when the yellow handle is engaged with the spider detent, and the thumb switch is in the auto position. Read through Victory’s pinned posts to learn how to ensure it’s engaged in DCS.

By VVI, do you mean Velocity Vector? VVI is actually Vertical Velocity Indicator. The VV uses the earth as reference, not the ship. It’s placement will vary based on ship speed, which is determined by natural winds. In most circumstances, the VV will be near the Crotch at the ball call. As you approach, it will drift towards the wires and approximate your touchdown point. In the pre-GPS Tomcat, the VV was jerky and lagged from what I hear. With GPS integration, it became much more reliable.

Don’t overfly the target. Once you pickle, make a fairly aggressive offset to the left then reverse your turn. Towards the end of TOF, you may have to unload a little and use rudder to keep it from masking.

Can’t speak for pre-2000. But, normally 10-14 airborne for each cycle. The amount of gas airborne depends on what’s being supported. You’ll have at least one hawking the recovery, and sometimes others for mission support. I may be wrong, but I thought they usually had a fuel alert set as well. Each fighter sq. kept 5 on the flight deck and would launch 2-4 each cycle. E-2s and Prowlers kind of did their own thing so I can’t speak much for them. Alerts were set based on threat condition.

Here is a bingo profile for the A model I found on Google, the profile will be similar for a B. Try a similar profile to get a baseline fuel burn.

So did the B.

True for takeoff and cat launch. Rumor was that the engines were too hot for the JBD in AB.

IRL, you need to show on the ball at max trap fuel weight. If you show up with less, you attract attention you don’t want. Every carrier aviator knows his fuel state at all times, and where he is on his fuel ladder. Hanging out at max conserve trying to get a few pounds back before the recovery starts is something every tailhooker has experienced.

Fuel mgmt is different off the boat than it is off the beach. With a beach landing option, you’ll set a joker/bingo based on distance to your point of landing. I’m sure there charts out there somewhere that will help set a profile and numbers. When flying off the boat, fuel management is done by constructing a fuel ladder based on recovery time and max trap fuel weight. I’m not sure if that has been discussed here yet.

If I remember right, it was a red filter we carried to the jet and it snapped in over the screen. That was done for NVGs as well.

It doesn’t sound like it. Until it is, you need to touchdown w/n two knots of on-speed and with a stabilized ball in the lens. There are a lot of factors that determine whether or not it’ll be a successful trap. I’ve seen a hook-skip bolter over all 4 wires. The best you can do is put all the odds in your favor by putting it in the wires on speed, at the right VSI, on centerline.

My B Natops Max Allowable Speed charts do not go beyond Mach 2.0. It was different for the A, and it seems the D as well. Maybe the data changed with more testing later on, I’m not sure.

Is that based on real world data? The B-model really slowed above 1.5 or so and could be outrun by the A at those higher end speeds. I thought the top end speed in reality was right around 2.0 and that would only happen with some porpoising. Well over 2.1 straight and level doesn’t sound quite right to me for the B.

Well, winds are rarely straight down the runway so you have to calculate headwind component. But honestly, that gouge was usually just for the first pass. For FCLP, everyone uses ground gouge and adjusts for groove length off of a downwind ground checkpoint.

Yes, I should’ve said headwind component.

A and B models had the same HUD, until the B-upgrade came out in ~2002.