On Speed Trim

[Deano87]

I’m not really sure I understand what you mean about knowing whether you’re in the groove or not. The groove is the approach, it’s the last 3/4 mile before the boat, once you’ve rolled out of the last 180 you are, by definition, in the groove, now... that doesn’t mean you’re in the right place either left/right or high/low, it just means you’re in roughly the right area. The real skill of carrier landing isn’t flying the glideslope, it’s nailing the downwind and the final turn so that when you roll out you are in the right place and you don’t have massive corrections to make in the last 15 seconds before touchdown. Get the downwind and final turn right and the glideslope itself becomes a lot easier.

 

If you’re having to use airbrake during the initial break then you are probably breaking too early. Extend the break point beyond the bow of the carrier a bit (in seconds) and find a break point that works for you and gives you enough time to get nicely configured on the downwind at 600ft and onspeed. Remember we don’t really care too much about the upwind part of the circuit, the critical bit is the end of the downwind, when you decide to start your final turn etc. So extending upwind and taking your time to get configured does no harm, as long as your 1.2 to 1.4 miles from the carrier when you’re abeam it, it doesn’t matter if you extended 15 seconds after passing the carrier before you did your initial break. Once you’ve got the final turn nailed you can bring your break point earlier and shorten the downwind as you get better.

 

Another thing I’ve mentioned to a few people that’s pretty obvious but not everybody pays attention to it is where the carrier (or more specifically the touchdown point and meatball) is compared to the horizon as you’re completing the last half of the final turn and rolling out onto the glideslope. Obviously you’re aiming to fly a 3.5 degree glideslope down to the deck, so it’s pretty understandable that from your perspective the touchdown point should be 3.5 degrees below the horizon and thankfully the Hornet has a nice big responsive HUD to be able to visualise that clearly. if as you’re completing your turn you find the ball is 2 degrees below the horizon you know instantly that you’re too low, if it’s 5+ degrees below the horizon you know you’re too high. Once you get used to what 3.5 degrees looks like in the HUD and against the pitch ladder you can actually use it as a reference while looking at the carrier during the last 45 degrees of the turn onto the glideslope, if you can’t see the ball from that range.

[DeltaMike]

When I was taking flying lessons, the challenge was to at the right altitude, right speed, right distance, and lined up at some point on final. I realized if I was that way on base, I was that way on final. Finally realized the key to the whole thing was to be that way on downwind, to be able to fly the pattern from entry to landing without constantly making adjustments. The later in the game you're making adjustments, the more likely you are to screw the pooch.

 

I think that's true for the F18 also, only you can have yourself set up correctly while you're in the stack if you're paying attention. And for someone new at this, starting from the port side stack is worth thinking about.

 

There's a lot of latitude to make adjustments during the break if you know how to do it. But, that takes practice. I would submit that starting the lesson with "30 degree roll and g=.1 speed" is a lot for a newbie to choke down, and may not be the best advice.

 

I would suggest this progression:

 

1. Straight and level flight

2. Constant radius, constant speed, level turns

3. Takeoffs

3. Straight and level flight at high AoA

4. Constant speed level turns at high AoA

5. Shore landings

6. Flying the pattern in landing conformation, on speed, high AoA, watch your angles

7. Try some traps, learn how to fly the ball.

8. Over-the-bow break from 350kts, focus on managing conformation (gear, flaps) and speed through mid-downwind without messing up your angles

9. Learn how to manage the break at various entry speeds and break points

10. Once you have that down, and understand navigation, move on to case III and ILS

 

Way I look at it, worrying about bank angle and g's is the last thing, well next-to-last thing a guy needs to learn, not the first.... air brake can help ya if you're stuck at level 8 :)

[Brun]

"30 degree roll and g=.1 speed"

I hope you don't think you're supposed to do both those at once.