Onboard for a F/A-18 carrier landing
 

Just watching this 2min video was a rush...can't even imagine what piloting one of these things must be like :eek:

Expand to full screen & turn it up...

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Man! The way he blew by the carrier and then lined that sucker up straight off of that hard left was dang impressive! Maybe routine for him but day-um.

Day-um indeed! No radio comm either...

Doing that for the very first time must be one truly intense experience.

Imagine in bad weather. At night. Low on fuel :eek:

play-by-play

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Thinking the very same thing!

When I did my second trip to Vietnam on board the "Big E" in 1973 I requested and was granted permission to get a "backseat drivers license" in one of the F4 Phantom squadrons. To get that you had to pass a written test, pre flight physical, take several classes: ejection seat, get out of a submerged ejection seat and drop from the parachute tower. I did two flights, first from Cubi Point Naval air station up to Clark AFB and return several hours later. The pilot did some hot dogging around the mountains in the PI to see what I would do......no puking thank goodness. The landings were like regular air strips. Two months into a bombing series they had a several F4s that needed engine testing as the test stand had been OOC due to a fire so my boss, CDR Davis called me and asked if I wanted another ride......half hour notice, yes SIR! The cat shot was a blast and I had to hold onto the hand grips really hard. We flew for 15 minutes, did a couple rolls and a run to full throttle on both engines and then we landed! Caught the 2nd wire and I think my insides stayed rearranged for 2 or 3 days as that is a fairly violent stop!

I was happy I could walk fairly normal after the canopy went up and I was told to finally unbuckle and climb out. I guess that is the reason I used to tighten my racing belts back when racing the vintage 914-6??!!

As a payback I would take the pilots that were working towards qualifying as OOD and sign off and tour them in the engine room and reactor spaces as I was the only E6 qualified as Engineering Watch Supervisor and that was the requirement. I still have my cards including an elevator pass so I could get to the bridge at GQ as the COs phone talker.

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I remember watching some of the first 18s during Carrier Quals before being approved for duty. Can't believe it's been that long since. I still remember the Tomcat Pilots reactions to those "tiny birds".

Amazing to see A3 “whale” land on a flight deck during night ops in Nam. Big plane, usually caught the 3rd or 4th arresting gear cable off the angle deck. I got catted off our carrier on a Wiley Fudd to daNang to get mustered out. Quite an experience. Navy pilots are the best....

The A3 was always the first to land.
It used the most fuel and we did not want it depleting our overhead airborne tanker.
Also the A3 had no ejection seats, scary ride.

Served as an ATC on the USS Ranger. Danger Ranger.
Radar controller, ran ACLS final approach controller, Marshal and Departure controller.
Back in the days of stat boards and writing backwards with a grease pencil on Plexiglas.
Still get my 3 and E confused sometimes.

On ship our crib was a couple decks below the catapult.
The most noise though was from the arresting gear screeching every landing.

Out in the Indian Ocean doing figure 8s for 80 days during Blue water ops.
Blue water ops means there are no divert fields and that the carrier is the only place to land.

There is quite a bit of comm, you just can't hear it because it goes through the mic in the mask and the speakers in the helmet.

And with a really full bladder from a long mission.

True we recovered 40/50 airplanes each recovery.
The Marshal controller on a separate frequency stacked 40 or so planes 20 miles behind the carrier.
Each plane was vertically separated by 1000 feet and issued a start approach time one minute apart.
The planes would depart marshal stack 5 miles in trail, if they departed marshal on their one minute window.
There were 2 More frequencies Approach A and approach B, and pilots stayed on one frequency from 20 mile final to landing.

Everyother aircraft was on the same frequency.

So approach A Controller guides the plane from 20 mile to a 5 mile final.
Final radar controller guides the plane from 5 mile final to 3/4 mile final.
3/4 mile to landing is controlled by the lso watching from the carrier’s aft deck.
All 3 are sharing the same frequency and when the lso starts giving instructions to a plane on short final the other 2 radar controllers yield the frequency.
It was amazing to participate in such a well timed operation.
Fly Navy!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_signal_officer

Where's all of the computer aid stuff?
Heads-up display?
On-screen graphics showing attitude/position?

That was all seat-of-the-pants?

Yikes

I'm familiar, though I don't think you've got a stack of carrier based aircraft up to 40k' unless they're holding in burner, each with a tanker attached. You pretty much described Case II and III recoveries.

The videos are Case I - "Clear and a million."

He has all of those, you tend to place the camera so none of it is recorded so information isn't gleaned and used by other actors.

Air boss runs the pattern if its daylight no weather and not a recovery.
There was always f-14s on patrol 200 miles from the carrier that would depart to relive other fighters that were already on watch.

At night or anytime there was weather the recovery was as described.
We launched 40 and 90 minutes later they all landed.
That was in 82.
What experience on a carrier gives you insight into Marshal control?

The inflight tanker at 3000 was always vectored over the low fuel short final arrival.
In case of a bolter (hook skip) the go around climbed Quickly to 3000 feet for fuel.

Impressive to experience naval aviation.

I was a Marine F/A-18 pilot with three deployments.

And I agree, few others things can compare to a carrier operating at sea. It's an orchestra to a level few can imagine.

***Edit***

I'm heading back to Miramar this Fall to be an F-35 sim IP, happy to grab beers and talk about the good old days sometime! I'm a baby, all things considered, but things have changed even since I started flying Hornets in 2011.

Awesome! Come on over I’ll grill burgers.
Last time I visited a carrier the f18 had been flying for a couple years.
The catcc controller said the f18 did all the duties of many old jets.
That now a recovery had changed to 3 different f18 flights continuously Landing and launching.

How many traps have you made?
Hawk a top Gun co and my catcc commander Nicnamed me Moth. Whats your nickname?
Happy landings

Hawk’s story written by Duck.
Reunited with these guys at a pca Qualcomm autocross.
https://www.amazon.com/ROGER-BALL-ODYSSEY-MONROE-FIGHTER/dp/1605280054

I'll look you up when I get back out there. Yeah, the Hornet and now the Super Hornet really is a work horse. You lose some precision with an airframe that is designed to do one specific mission, but you gain a lot of flexibility with one that can do almost everything.

I only have 26 traps. I was assigned to a land based Hornet squadron. Most Marine Hornet squadrons are land based.

Moth huh? Any reason why? My callsign is "Closet." I was the only single dude when I showed up to my fleet squadron so I still dressed nice when we would all go out which they said was gay. Navy and Marine callsigns make fun of each other vice the "cool" Air Force callsigns like "Blade," "Razor," etc...

Do they still do AutoX at Qualcomm with PCA? Wonder if I could bring my '72 911... It does have a small block Chevrolet so I know some guys don't really care for that.

Awesome, I'll check it out!

Thank you for sharing some details about your challenging career defending our Country. Oorah!
I'll send you a PM to share contact info.

Interesting that Navy call signs are more about humility.
Moth not really sure but since it came from Hawk I'll take it.
Might be his view of an atc scope dope that circles the light of their radar screen. ;)

As Hawk says I got out for selfish reasons, money.
My Navy experience lead to a career in the FAA, now retired.

Hawk was CO of Top Gun when the Miramar base CO on a Friday gave Hawk a script for a movie called Top Gun.
Told him to read it and let him know Monday if Top Gun should support the movie.
Almost lost his TG command when unknown to him the TG instructors made a Christmas card photo in front of a newer model F5? with everyone bending over showing bare ass.

Great guy we were driving around a few years ago and I asked Hawk about canopy rolls.
He gave me a 20 minute lesson on how to teach canopy rolls.
Rule #1 first practice with the lead AC ahead because the pilot learning may not keep altitude on his first try or two.
And I thought canopy rolls were not encouraged.

Yes your monster RSR should be welcome at the AX.
Although they are on hold at the moment.
The parking lot at the Q is basically gravel but you would have fun practicing car control on the loose surface.
https://pcasdr.org/competition/get-started-autocross/

Best if you join us at Cal Speedway for a DE event, room to open it up.
Group I like to run with, should be running events again soon.
https://www.speedventures.com/
My car at Cal Speedway.
https://youtu.be/pPAvNUxww-A

Just sold my RSR, it was similar to yours except for the engine.
Had fun for 20 years with that RSR.
Hope you have a passenger seat, I'll want a ride.
I should be safe with a fighter pilot at the controls.
Of course I'll want to show you how to left foot brake it. :)

Maybe grill burgers here sometime with Hawk and Duck and share sea stories.
They would enjoy it as well.
Stay well!

Glad to see ya back here at Pelican, “Ted”.

Hi Scott glad you are well.
You might have more flying hours than anyone on this thread.
Look me up if you are down this way. :)

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