Is it really that easy?

[Lace]

I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked in the cat during the ‘free’ weekend due to family and holiday commitments but after a quick check of the mapped axes I was off into the instant action missions. I tried the carrier approach and flying seat-of-the-pants landed first try. A fluke I thought so gave it another go. Same result. This time I set myself up for a bolter and that was achieved relatively drama-free so I lined up for another landing. #3 wire again.

 

Now I know the instant action mission is day-VMC with a calm sea state but to be honest I thought it would be a bit more of a challenge, especially given that I didn’t even look up any speeds before attempting the landings. Really surprised that it was possible to just eyeball it. (No disrespect to the guys who do it for real!)

 

Other than that the module looks great. I really didn’t even scratch the surface of what the aircraft can do and it will be on my to-buy list once the Viper is mastered. The cockpit is very useable in VR and the various shakes, rattles and creaks are very atmospheric. Top job guys!

Edited January 5, 2020 by Lace

[Mr. Big.Biggs]

Haven’t stuck a landing in the 18, nor missed a landing yet in the 14. Interesting.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Mr. Big.”Biggs”

[captain_dalan]

You don't need any airspeeds, just grab the ball and keep in the center.

[CoBlue]

RL it was not that easy to trap a wire.

Yes HB F-14 is that easy to trap. The trap-model is "simplistic", you don't need to be on-speed AoA to trap. It's still WIP.....I guess?

[VC]

Are you doing a proper Case 1 procedure or just lining up, flying at the deck and flaring at the end? Carrier landings in game are unrealistically easy if you don't follow proper procedures because you're not going to get chewed out for reducing airframe life with stressful landings or wasting other people's time with long approaches. And your life isn't on the line if you mess up so you can just have a go.

 

I had the same feeling in the Hornet (having learned the Tomcat first), first try just flew it whichever way, trapped and thought it was easy. Tried a proper approach pattern with correct speeds and failed a dozen or more times. I can now just about make passable carrier landings in the F-18.

 

Having said that, the F-14 is a lot easier to carrier land than the F-18. With the Tomcat I got the hang of the pattern much quicker and could land much more reliably with less practice. The plane was designed to help the pilot land it on a carrier. Carrier planes with nasty landing habits quickly get a reputation for it.

[Bunny Clark]

Yah, I've also found the Cat to be much easier to trap with than the Hornet.

 

DLC, for one thing, pretty much feels like cheating. If it works that well in real life, I wonder why we haven't seen something similar in other carrier aircraft.

[Sam]

Are you doing a proper Case 1 procedure or just lining up, flying at the deck and flaring at the end? Carrier landings in game are unrealistically easy if you don't follow proper procedures because you're not going to get chewed out for reducing airframe life with stressful landings or wasting other people's time with long approaches. And your life isn't on the line if you mess up so you can just have a go.

 

I had the same feeling in the Hornet (having learned the Tomcat first), first try just flew it whichever way, trapped and thought it was easy. Tried a proper approach pattern with correct speeds and failed a dozen or more times. I can now just about make passable carrier landings in the F-18.

 

Having said that, the F-14 is a lot easier to carrier land than the F-18. With the Tomcat I got the hang of the pattern much quicker and could land much more reliably with less practice. The plane was designed to help the pilot land it on a carrier. Carrier planes with nasty landing habits quickly get a reputation for it.

 

Exactly ! It's not difficult to get on the boat, but flying a proper CASE 1 pattern at the right speed and altitude, at the right abeam distance and with the correct groove time... that's a lot more challenging :D

[Lace]

Exactly ! It's not difficult to get on the boat, but flying a proper CASE 1 pattern at the right speed and altitude, at the right abeam distance and with the correct groove time... that's a lot more challenging :D

 

Oh i’m sure it would be! I only had about 20mins in the a/c over the free weekend. I have no idea about the intricacies of sequencing and timing for a ‘correct’ approach. I’m just talking about the physical aspect of putting the a/c back on the boat.

 

Interesting point above about the trap model being simplified/WIP. Is that the case for the hornet also? Is it modelled by a/c or part of the carrier model I wonder? Will it be the same for landing on the new carrier module?

[Nealius]

I think it's fairly well known at this point that the Tomcat's hook interaction with the carrier is WIP, while the Hornet will give you hook skipping and such.

[VC]

Hook skipping is only a small part of it. You can trap in the Hornet as well at completely the wrong speed and glide slope, just flare at the end. If you did that in a real F-18... actually you'd probably be fine as well. Fine as in, you wouldn't break the plane there and then, they're engineered with safety margins. But you'd never fly again and the plane might be written off anyway just to be safe.

[Chuck_Henry]

Yah, I've also found the Cat to be much easier to trap with than the Hornet.

 

DLC, for one thing, pretty much feels like cheating. If it works that well in real life, I wonder why we haven't seen something similar in other carrier aircraft.

 

Well, that's what one of the F-14 crew members was alluding to on The Fighter Pilot Podcast. DLC is something the TACAIR community kinda forgot about after the F-14's retirement, but PLM/Magic Carpet in the Super Hornet and F-35C are essentially a more modern version of it. You control glideslope with the stick instead of a thumbwheel, but you're telling the FCS to move the control surfaces to boost or kill your lift for glideslope adjustments. But it's all the surfaces - flaperons, slats, spoilers, stabilators - not just spoilers. The sight of it on final approach has actually been described almost as a bird flapping its wings.

[Harlikwin]

Well, that's what one of the F-14 crew members was alluding to on The Fighter Pilot Podcast. DLC is something the TACAIR community kinda forgot about after the F-14's retirement, but PLM/Magic Carpet in the Super Hornet and F-35C are essentially a more modern version of it. You control glideslope with the stick instead of a thumbwheel, but you're telling the FCS to move the control surfaces to boost or kill your lift for glideslope adjustments. But it's all the surfaces - flaperons, slats, spoilers, stabilators - not just spoilers. The sight of it on final approach has actually been described almost as a bird flapping its wings.

 

That sounds pretty neat, and makes alot of sense.

[draconus]

HB has commented before that there are plans to make it more realistic, not so easy and bad landings will have consequences.

[QuiGon]

It will get more difficult in the future:

We'll make this more unforgiving soon - with hook skip bolters and hook damage.

[CoBlue]

We'll make this more unforgiving soon - with hook skip bolters and hook damage.

This was posted 7 months ago.

[Victory205]

You’d get waved off if flying a full fast AOA, depending on conditions. We already discussed hook skips if slightly fast or if the pilot eased the nose. Setting the hook seemed to work if necessary.

[QuiGon]

This was posted 7 months ago.

So? It's still on the ToDo list.

[mattag08]

There's a reason why DLC is a requested item for new naval aircraft.

[Mr. Big.Biggs]

There's a reason why DLC is a requested item for new naval aircraft.

 

Because its easier to land an F14 in Dcs than an F18 or because 7 months ago they said they were planning a tweak? Not sure I follow....

[VC]

On a related note, I'm sure if the Hornet's auto-throttle worked properly (in DCS) it would be a breeze to carrier land as well. The other carrier based aircraft are already easier by comparison, but landing with auto-throttle on both the F-14 and the Su-33 really feels like cheating.

Edited January 9, 2020 by VC

[CoBlue]

So? It's still on the ToDo list.

I really hope so, otherwise the Tomcat isn't complete, but no official word from HB about it for a long time, AFAIK.

Edited January 9, 2020 by CoBlue

[QuiGon]

I really hope so, otherwise the Tomcat isn't complete, but no official word from HB about it for a long time, AFAIK.

The Tomcat is far from being complete and is missing a lot of other stuff too. It doesn#t even has the correct engine instruments right now. The devs are very busy with all those items and can't do them all at once. Reworking the landing physics isn't on top of the ToDO list as there are more pressing issues. It will happen eventually.

[mattag08]

Because its easier to land an F14 in Dcs than an F18 or because 7 months ago they said they were planning a tweak? Not sure I follow....

Because DLC makes carrier landings much easier IRL.

[Reflected]

Easy? Download this mission, and if you score consistently above 65 points, come back and we can talk:

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=221412

 

The DLC helps a lot in the F-14, but it has so many quirks that make if more challenging than the Hornet. The Hornet is very easy to fly precisely, you have all the information on the HUD, etc...on the downside, it sinks like a grand piano when you bank it, so your left hand must be on top of the situation.

[CoBlue]

Easy? Download this mission, and if you score consistently above 65 points, come back and we can talk:

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=221412

The DLC helps a lot in the F-14, but it has so many quirks that make if more challenging than the Hornet. The Hornet is very easy to fly precisely, you have all the information on the HUD, etc...on the downside, it sinks like a grand piano when you bank it, so your left hand must be on top of the situation.

We're not talking about the Case1 pattern or the flight characteristics.

We're talking about the trap-model/physics!

Edited January 12, 2020 by CoBlue