Well, at least I caught the right wire

[Diesel_Thunder]

I got the F-18 last week and have really been enjoying it. I tried landing on the boat the day I got it, but I plowed into the stern each time I tried. Spent a few hours doing touch and goes on land, and thought I would take a crack at landing on the boat again. I had my first successful trap today!

 

I've either had to wave off (a lot) because my approach was garbage or I wasn't quite lined up right and boltered (also a lot). I was expecting another bolter when I touched down but to my surprise, I caught the 3rd wire! Certainly wasn't pretty, and I need a lot more practice :joystick:. Still happy that I finally did it!

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Diesel_Thunder

[oldcrusty]

Congrats. Hey, you're waving yourself off w/o LSO's. That's a good start.

[CBStu]

I have a straight-in approach pretty much dialed in. But my pattern approaches look a lot like yours. Fortunately DCS doesn't seem to model flattened landing gear so my crash landings I can usually taxi away from.

[Greyman]

If you haven't already got it, maybe try Bankler's Case 1 recovery trainer, https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=221412.

 

It'll keep you occupied for hours and provides very useful feedback, inflight and via a summary at the end, on the various stages of the recovery.

[StarLightPL]

Oh my god, this forum is full of surprises, I need to dive in more often... Thanks for that! I'd only wish I had stumbled upon this sooner :D

[Diesel_Thunder]

@Gripes323 - Thanks! I've quickly learned that if I'm out of position or the approach is trash, better to wave off rather than plow into the stern of the ship.

 

@Greyman - That's an awesome mission! I'll be using that more as my skill improves with this bird. Thanks for sharing.

 

@CBStu - The Hornet seemingly has a very stout landing gear. I haven't damaged it yet that I'm aware, even coming in with too much vertical velocity. I have collapsed or damaged the gear on both the A-10 and P-51. The Mustang's mains certainly don't like being side loaded.

 

 

I gotta say, practicing doing the touch and goes as much as I have in the Hornet has helped out a lot in landing the other aircraft I have. The Viper has a similar AoA bracket in the HUD, although it is a staple instead of an E. I'm able to manage landing that aircraft better. Same thing with the Warthog. Before all of this practice, with the Hog I would usually come in too high, too fast, or both. Now I'm able to nail the speed, angle, and distance almost every time. The Mustang is still a challenge (no pedals yet), but less daunting now.

 

Can't help but think as I improve managing my landings and attitude control that it will help later with aerial refueling.

[PoorOldSpike]

Tip for noobs- create a mission in the editor and set the wind direction and speed (say 25kts from the north), and set the carrier speed 25kts into the teeth of it.

That'll give a wind speed of 50kts over the deck and landings will usually be a piece of cake.

Later as you gain experience begin reducing the speed of the carrier and wind to make it harder..:)

 

PS- another thing, never try to flare, just fly straight into the wires.

I once read somewhere that a squadron C.O. told his men- "I'll court-martial any man who tries to flare!"

[Stubbies2003]

The LRLLS of the super carrier will help out with line up quite a bit. One of many reasons I'm looking forward to it. :)

[Raisuli]

Now line up static aircraft on both sides of the landing area. It's surprising how much of a difference that doesn't make since you can't see them all that well on approach, but it looks cool.

 

 

Just be sure to keep them outside the fault lines.

[Doc3908]

Congrats, Diesel! I've been flying the F-18 for a couple of months now and still can't trap the 3-wire consistently. My real problem is pitching deck in rough seas. When the sea is calm, trapping the 3rd or 2nd wire is usually not that hard. But when the seas are rough, I always end up overcompensating and either bolter or catch the 1-wire. Practice, practice, practice... :)

Happy flying!

Edited April 29, 2020 by Doc3908

[G B]

Remember guys: it’s not about the wire. There are plenty of lousy 3-wires, and some really pretty 2-wires and 4-wires. While the 3 normally is the target wire, LSOs do NOT grade the wire. They grade the pass, of which where the hook touches down is just one part of it.

[Raisuli]

<hijack>

Why do they sometimes aim for the two wire? That was something I saw somewhere on the Nimitz.

</hijack>

[G B]

<hijack>

Why do they sometimes aim for the two wire? That was something I saw somewhere on the Nimitz.

</hijack>

 

While changing the target wire is uncommon, there’s a number of reasons to do so:

 

1) Aircraft malfunction. For example, red launch bar warning light. Procedure requires stripping 2 wires. Changing the target wire in that case is appropriate and required.

 

2) Stripped wires. While we usually don’t change the target wire when wires are stripped, sometimes we change it. Also included in this category are busted arresting gear engines and other such issues. LSO grading for a stripped wire includes the “circle” where the LSO writes the number of the wire the hook would have caught and circles it, before writing the number of the actual caught wire.

 

3) Very rarely, I’ve seen it to help a struggling pilot who has had a hard time getting aboard.

 

There are a couple of other reasons but those are the big ones.

[Diesel_Thunder]

Thanks Doc3908!

 

I'm still have a lot of room for improvement, and it's still quite a challenge.

 

Having some trouble with lining up, keep coming in off angle it feels like. I usually go for BRC - 9º. In this screenshot below, Stennis is going 25 kts at 307º. My course should be 307-9=298º, which I am flying, but it looks like I'm going straight down the center line of the ship instead of the landing zone. Still being new at this I don't know what it should look like when I'm lined up.

 

[Raisuli]

Thanks Doc3908!

 

Still being new at this I don't know what it should look like when I'm lined up.

 

 

 

Honestly I'd rather let people who know what they're doing advise you. I know I had a much easier time of it once I turned on the needles (ICLS). Even doing a case I (I don't do much case III yet, though I have a daylight approach set up for practice). On a case III...no idea what that looks like. On a case 1 you (basically) overshoot your base turn and end up pointed down the right runway.

 

One of my big breakthroughs was watching a HUD tape of a real case 1 landing (*cough* hornetvideos *cough*) and realized I was way, way, way too long in a groove.

 

 

Here's a video of a case 1 I did that didn't suck. Too bad. Is it great? No idea. I'm landing in a vacuum myself.

 

 

http://xenon135web.s3.amazonaws.com/Images/vs-3%20wire.mp4

[MadCat1381]

Thanks Doc3908!

 

I'm still have a lot of room for improvement, and it's still quite a challenge.

 

Having some trouble with lining up, keep coming in off angle it feels like. I usually go for BRC - 9º. In this screenshot below, Stennis is going 25 kts at 307º. My course should be 307-9=298º, which I am flying, but it looks like I'm going straight down the center line of the ship instead of the landing zone. Still being new at this I don't know what it should look like when I'm lined up.

 

 

Let me guess a few things.

 

You are on the Caucasus map on the screenshot and you set the course of the carrier to 307° in the mission editor. Right or am I wrong?

 

It seems like the carrier is going 301° BRC magnetic so you're pretty much on BRC on the screenshot. The mission editor uses true north values, while the hornet (and most other high fidelity modules) uses magnetic north readings.

On the caucasus map the deviation between magnetic and true north is about 6°.

So you have to substract this value from the things you set up in the mission editor to get the correct values when flying.

[Diesel_Thunder]

Let me guess a few things.

 

You are on the Caucasus map on the screenshot and you set the course of the carrier to 307° in the mission editor. Right or am I wrong?

 

It seems like the carrier is going 301° BRC magnetic so you're pretty much on BRC on the screenshot. The mission editor uses true north values, while the hornet (and most other high fidelity modules) uses magnetic north readings.

On the caucasus map the deviation between magnetic and true north is about 6°.

So you have to substract this value from the things you set up in the mission editor to get the correct values when flying.

 

Yep, Caucasus map. I set the boat to go in a northwest direction. Haven't seen any way to set a specific course in the ME.

 

And you are correct, once I readjusted to the new headings (BRC 301º/292º), it is looking much better. I still need to practice a lot more.

 

Thanks MadCat!:thumbup:

[MadCat1381]

You're welcome, Diesel Thunder.

 

The same issue with the F10 map. All directional readings are in true. All maps have a different value for the deviation (like in reality). Unfortunatly it's not mentioned on the map (in contrast to reality). :huh: