Option for easy carrier landing

[ivo]

It would be nice to have the easy carrier landing option for those who don't want to go crazy with landings or don't have particular skills or particularly effective joysticks, this without taking anything away from the simulation aspect of the module. Leaving this option to the player.

 

Bye

[Mr_sukebe]

Option B, do what the US did, and give them to the US Marines, for use from island bases

[Saxman]

11 hours ago, Mr_sukebe said:

Option B, do what the US did, and give them to the US Marines, for use from island bases

I wish that myth would just die already.

The Marines got them because they needed new fighters first (carrier forces were still rebuilding at the beginning of 1943) and the Corsairs happened to be available in sufficient numbers before the Hellcat.

[Mr_sukebe]

11 hours ago, Saxman said:

I wish that myth would just die already.

The Marines got them because they needed new fighters first (carrier forces were still rebuilding at the beginning of 1943) and the Corsairs happened to be available in sufficient numbers before the Hellcat.

 

Interesting.  You got a source for that?  Don't get me wrong, not trying to argue with you, just curious about the source.

[Saxman]

4 minutes ago, Mr_sukebe said:

 

Interesting.  You got a source for that?  Don't get me wrong, not trying to argue with you, just curious about the source.

First off, here's an April, 1943 BuAer communique:

This came from around the same time as VF-12 and VF-17 were undergoing carried qualifications (both squadrons completed them by the end of April). VF-17 spent the entirety of the spring and summer of 1943 after completing qualifications embarked aboard Bunker Hill, and were successfully operating from the carrier during that time. It was also VF-17 pilots that helped train the first group of Brits when they arrived in the US in June.

When Bunker Hill was ordered to the Pacific, VF-17 was embarked aboard and fully expecting to go to war from the carrier. It wasn't until they arrived at Pearl Harbor in October that orders changed and they were redirected to Espirtu Santo. Tommy Blackburn was emphatic in his book that it was NOT because the Corsair's were unsuitable for carrier use, but was entirely a logistics decision: The Navy didn't have the supply chains in place to support the Corsairs aboard the carriers, so VF-17 was disembarked to take advantage of the existing Marine logistics.

There's also the strategic situation to consider: The US carrier forces spent most of the first half of 1943 rebuilding. Enterprise and Saratoga were in need of refit and repair, and their air groups were depleted. The first Essexes didn't arrive in the theater until later in the spring, and major carrier operations didn't resume until the fall. The Marines, however, were still in combat and desperately in need of fighters NOW. The Corsair was available in numbers first, so every airframe available (minus VF-12 and 17, with VF-12 eventually relinquishing their Corsairs) was being sent to the Pacific as fast as they could get them off the assembly lines. This meant there were no Corsairs available for the carrier squadrons.

[Mr_sukebe]

My thanks for the update.  Learn something new every day

[Andrew8604]

On 6/22/2025 at 8:07 AM, ivo said:

It would be nice to have the easy carrier landing option for those who don't want to go crazy with landings or don't have particular skills or particularly effective joysticks, this without taking anything away from the simulation aspect of the module. Leaving this option to the player.

 

Bye

Not to take anything away from your request but did you watch this video by Reflected Simulations.  I watched it a couple times and tried it and practiced it.  I made about ten circuits around the carrier pattern gradually getting down to the altitude and speed required and to where I was coming out of my turn to final very close to the aft end of the carrier.  When I felt comfortable, I cut the throttle (requiring left rudder to stay straight), eased it down a bit and flared to three-point attitude and caught a #5 wire.  It worked!!  It can be done with a little patience and practice.  I was determined to do it without crashing, and I succeeded.  And I'm not a great pilot.  I think landing the F/A-18 and A-4E on a carrier is more difficult.  I had the Essex carrier steaming 22 knots into an 8-knot wind to get about 30 knots wind-over-deck, too.  It's not easy, and I've had some wave-offs and bolters that would have sent me into the barrier gear...but I realized on those that I had not fully cut the power!  I've made about 5 traps of about 8 attempts.  It can be done.  My bolters were on a fully clear deck, so I powered through and back into the air.  The barrier wires and barricade rigging don't seem to be present in the sim...that's a problem.

But it's always nice to have an easy-mode option for this difficult task, if it improves the enjoyment.  Same should be for in-flight refueling!  ...which I still have too much trouble accomplishing.  And, yes, it pretty much requires a quality joystick, throttle and rudder pedals.  I use old Oculus Rift S VR goggles, too.

Here's an example from a movie which edits together studio set scenes with real carrier operations involving F9F Panther jets filmed in about 1954, right before the angled decks came into use.  This is also an Essex-class carrier, the last one completed (Oriskany CV-34), but with a more modern island.  In about 1959, it received and angled deck, too.

 

Edited June 29 by Andrew8604