Carrier Operations Guide by Pieterras

[Roc123]

Same!!! This OPs guide seems like a hidden gem! Can't wait to dive in and master the art of crafting engaging opening posts. Thanks for the heads-up, Alphadriver!
 

[Rob]

Great guide! But unfortunately it does not align with my several years of real-world experience of virtual flying with DCS naval aviators.  I will outline a few of the descrepancies as I have experienced them:

Case 1 Marshall Pattern Adherence
Adherence to the idealized Marshall pattern geometry of 250kn and 5nm radius shall be strictly enforced.  Timing, spacing, safety of flight, and deconfliction are all secondary concerns compared to achieving the idealized pattern geometry.  The same with desending from the Marshall to the initial point: strict adherence to idealized geometry over rides all other flight concerns.

Time in groove
Despite the ambiguities of determining the exact position of 'wings level', time in grove is to be precisely quantified.  Anything other than exactly 15.000 seconds in the groove will be harshly considered way too short, or way too long.

Paradoxically, the strict quantification of grove timing will be waved when viewing replays or videos of carrier operations.  In these situations, all groves are to be judged 'way too long'.  A single frame of the video at the initial is all that is needed for this determination.  Timestamps of youtube video are not considered precise enough for grove timing purposes, and for this reason a single sight picture late in the base turn is all that is needed to determine that aircraft was way too long in the grove, despite a youtube playback being close to 15-18 seconds long.

Spotting the deck/dropping
All succesful recoveries are to be considered as 'deck spotting' in which the aviator will be judged to have used the stick to aim for the wires, regardless of the actual flight path.

Target Wire
Anything other than a 3-wire landing is to be harshly critizied, even if all other landing criteria are satisfied.

Comms/Zip Lip
Though often briefed as mandatory, zip lip conditions can and will be overridden by any flight member at any time.  Valid reasons for breaking zip-lip procedures:

• Lead deviates more than 0.5 feet from the given Marshall altitude block
• Lead deviates more than 5 feet horizontally outside of the idealized 5NM Marshall holding pattern
• Lead's speed deviates more than +/- 0.5 knots from the 250 knot Marshall airspeed
• Lead applies more than +/- 0.1g during turns to descent from the Marshall pattern

Strict adherence to what is not written in CV Natops
Often it is what is *not* said in CV Natops that is important, and DCS naval aviators will find many hills to die on in this regard.  Topics such as whether an aircraft passes directly over the carrier deck in the Marshall pattern position 1, or flies slightly to the side to be able to spot the deck are not explicitly explained in the CV Natops manuals.  However, DCS aviators will chose the one true way, and all other choices are to be considered savagely incorrect.  Choose wisely.

 

Anyway, like I said, great guide, and this just scratches the surface of the discrepancies I see in real virtual fleet aviation.

 

Kind regards.

Edited June 21, 2024 by Rob

[Pieterras]

Thank you Rob, 

Much appreciated. I shall tell the guys currently at sea that they have been doing it wrong for the last god knows how many years, so they can incorporate your years of ‘virtual’ experience in the next revision of the CV Natops.

Safety of flight and deconfliction for sure come secondary to exact geometry, and I apologise if that’s not clearly stated in the guide. 

Can you just confirm that a 3 wire is the right one to aim for? As the guys are unsure whether they have done that right too? 
 

One thing that confuses me slightly but perhaps you can elaborate. How does one adhere strictly to what’s not written?

is that a virtual thing?

 

 

[Johnny Dioxin]

Sometimes posts on here just beggar belief! My congrats, Pieterras, not just on the guide, but on your incredible self-discipline in your response to that post, which I'm still struggling to believe he actually wrote.

[TonyG]

A most excellent troll @Rob, truly bringing the Hype, dude. 

[Rifter]

40 minutes ago, Johnny Dioxin said:

Sometimes posts on here just beggar belief! My congrats, Pieterras, not just on the guide, but on your incredible self-discipline in your response to that post, which I'm still struggling to believe he actually wrote.

sarcasm
/ˈsɑːkaz(ə)m/

Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflection with which it is spoken or, with an undercurrent of irony, by the extreme disproportion of the comment to the situation, and is largely context-dependent.