Can wires snap on aircraft carriers?

[Gunfreak]

So I did my first carrier landing in the Hornet 1989 campaign, the HUD was funky because of something I'm sure I did wrong, so I landed by eyeball, but I think I had about 200knots speed when I hit the 2nd wire.
Would that snap it in real life? Would the pilots brains pour out of his nose?

[silverdevil]

most definitely can and does happen. youtube search it.

 

here is one

 

 

don't lay off the throttle until you stop for sure. the hawkeye pilot probably shit himself so close to the water.

Edited July 24, 2021 by silverdevil

[Gunfreak]

32 minutes ago, silverdevil said:

most definitely can and does happen. youtube search it.

 

here is one

 

 

don't lay off the throttle until you stop for sure. the hawkeye pilot probably shit himself so close to the water.

 

I was thinking in the game, is it modeled?

[G.J.S]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iecvnwh8mIY

 

Deck crew plays jump-rope . . . . 

[Faelwolf]

Any cable can snap under load. That's why you stay clear of them, at least 2 feet outside the radius formed by any anchor point. People have lost limbs, or even been killed by being cut in half or decapitated. A search on the subject is not for the faint of heart.  You'd be amazed at how fast it can whip around, and how much force even a small cable can carry when it lets go. For those outside the military or heavy industry, that includes tow ropes and tie downs. Seen some pretty impressive damage to cars when a tow rope/chain broke under load, and know of truck drivers killed or hospitalized when a tie down snapped while being tightened.

 

Don't think it's modeled in the sim though.

 

As to injury to a pilot from a cable snag, those cables have enough elasticity in them to bring the aircraft to a stop without injuring the pilot or the aircraft. That's their job, after all. Even the heaviest cable has some "give" in it. Steel in general has some elasticity in it, differing amounts varying with the alloy composition of the steel. Steel framed skyscrapers will sway in the wind.  Cable, especially load bearing cable, is made from a pretty resilient alloy, along the lines of (but not quite the same as) spring steel, and is rated by it's elasticity and tensile strength. As an aside, it can be forged into a pretty good pattern welded knife blade due to it's properties. I won't bore you with a lecture on metallurgy, but the cable will permanently deform before it snaps under too heavy of a load, it isn't an all or nothing kind of deal. So an overspeed isn't going to be instant death to the cable or the pilot. But it will shorten the life of the cable, as it will contribute more metal fatigue than normal. The cable snapping in the video is likely due to prolonged metal fatigue more than anything else. A marine environment sure doesn't help in that department either.

[silverdevil]

6 hours ago, Gunfreak said:

I was thinking in the game, is it modeled?

oh haha. i thought you meant IRL. sorry. i never catch the wire so i never have witnessed it snapping  in DCS

Edited July 24, 2021 by silverdevil

[kseremak]

I didn't expect to see it over the deck again.

[kengou]

Wire snaps don't happen in DCS