This is a GREAT 10 minute video... Carrier is the John Stennis. Operations, etc. One carrier like this has a larger air force than 70% of all countries... 80 planes. http://www.dump.com/2011/04/16/one-us-aircraft-carrier-has-a-more-powerful-air-force-than-70-of-all-countries-video/
Notice that the pilots of the F-18's do not touch the controls during launch, until after it's actually flying. All automatic. They won't launch until the pilot's stick hand is up in the air and visible.
Here's a short video of an S3 Viking jet landing on a carrier. Great view out the windshield of what it looks like to line up on final behind the carrier. Does not look easy. . [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn5DHw70zPo[/ame]
Yep, I didn't realize they land on the angled runway. I would have lined up straight behind the ship. Not sure how fast the ship is moving but I don't like the idea of the runway moving to my right as I'm trying to land on it.
Amazing! I have read/seen on TV the exacting standards they have. Each landing is graded, you have to try to catch the first or second of three arrestor cables, etc., etc. Also saw a documentary where they followed the progress of two or three navy pilots including the only female pilot (there was a previous female, the first one ever, but she crashed and lost her life during a landing--and they showed that too, yikes!). Just amazing.
it's all mental... the mind needs to transition into another mode... the relative landing speed over the deck becomes very slow, especially if there is a nice headwind... the "runway" actually becomes "longer" than it physically is, the "runway" is moving away at speed... the off center line deck makes every landing like a cross wind landing, not a problem, and keeps the pilot from getting run over in case the landing is a bit too long
Found some interesting statistics for the F-18. On a land-based runway, take-off ground roll is approx. 2600 feet (varies by aircraft weight and temp). On a carrier, the catapult t/o distance is approx. 250 ft. On land, an F-18 needs a waiver to land on a runway shorter than 7000 ft long. It can land in 2700 ft of ground roll if it is light on fuel and ammo. On a carrier, typical tail hook / arrestor wire landing is 200 ft long of ground roll or so. Yikes.
Carriers are about the fastest ships in the Navy... Can go about 30 knots (c. 35mph) and probably do that or close to it to launch and recover. So that's a nice 'headwind'. Also note that they go to full throttle just before they touch down (slam down?) in case they bolt (miss the arresting wires) so they don't go into the drink and can go around, hopefully. You can hear it in toggie's Viking video; the vacuum cleaner noise gets louder...
it's not unusual to set higher minimum runway lengths for normal landings, which may be greater than the performance data shows...it makes the pilot more aware that the landing will be more than routine. cold weather pilots usually put on a good show with their first landing in warm weather... in cold weather they have a landing distance to which they have become accustomed to ( because ground speeds and landing distance become shorter in the cold ) this particular runway had a turnoff which was appropriate for most planes in cold weather, but in warm weather it became a little short for them... the give away was heavy breaking and reversers, then the plane would need roll past the turn as their speed was still too high...
carriers in full operatin need to hold their speed back to accomodate the slower boats in the group... the new frigates, destroyers etc are capable of 50-60 knots... still the carrrier can do a horizon job on them
Had no idea they were that fast - 50-60k... where'd the info come from? All I could find on destroyers, etc.: was "in excess of 30 knots". Is the speed classified?
all top speeds are classified... fast enough to restrict on deck activity during high speed maneuvers they can make "go fast" boats look slow
Tcar, Ship speed is dependent on the water line length. The longer it is, the faster the ship can go with out having to climb up over its own bow wave. As I recall that is called 'Hull Speed'. Been a long time, and my memory is not that great anymore. 1.3 X square root of the water line length. The new nuclear carriers can out run all the other ships in the task group....maybe not the subs though. Horse Power cures all....as I think they have enough to get through the bow wave. As for that deck angle. Many years ago, I was on the old Midway.....WWII vintage. We had a 13 degree angle deck. You constantly made quick "right for lineups" I think the newer ships are about 7 or 8 degrees....so the "runway" is moving right only half as fast...but still moving forward and right at all times. As I recall we had 10' "hook to ramp" clearance coming over the back of the ship. We had a few hook marks on the round down at the back of the ship....and I assume some soiled underwear to go with them I have had a few "taxi, one wires" at night as they're called........scared myself a bit...maybe I sharted. I have some of this stuff on DVD....need to learn how to post it here. Dogdish
they were hittin over 30kts back in the 1960's... yes the speed are never released. Along with the ship speeding up (lowering your groundspeed) the ship also turns into the wind... and the wind can really be blowing out in the middle of the ocean. This also reduces your groundspeed. All we care about is indicated airspeed...that is what keeps the plane in the air..... headwinds are free energy for lift.
Thanks, Dog... I also read that the nuclear carriers were the fastest boats in the fleet. The Midway, BTW, in WWII had a zero angle deck, it was refitted in the 60's with a new angled deck (with, as you said, a huge angle). Found a pic, but can't get it copied here... Waiting for you to figure out how to post your video...
No, they've certainly got the subs beat too. Don't believe they've fitted a speed screw to a sub in years.
I was air crew on one of these for a while..did quite a few landings and take offs...the night ones were the dicey ones.. And the carriers may be fast...but subs are fast also.....very
And there is also the heavy pitcfhing seas... that must make landing eben more of a sphincter squeezer.
http://youtu.be/aw4dZ2bJnGI Maybe this is a repost, but it was our moto video prior to initial CQ. The guy who made this video took a bunch of professional crap over posting it on youtube and is unfortunately no longer flying. To give you some perspective, I did my initial Carrier qual in T-45s this past July. I haven't gone to the boat since, so my measly 10 day traps is all I have to back any of this up. Working up to CQ we did 2-3 flights per day doing nothing but bouncing. It was a lot of fun, but also fairly intense. If I remember right, I had somewhere around 350 FCLP (Field Carrier Landing Practice) type landings prior to going to the boat so I felt very prepared and knew if I just flew how I normally do, I'd be fine. The morning of the first day felt like a fairly routine flight. We took off as a four ship, joined up and everything was pretty normal until we were waiting in the marshall stack around 10k and i finally had a chance to look down and see this tiny little speck in the middle of a giant ocean. "Holy S***, this is for real..." Coming downhill into the break I could barely hang on I was so nervous. Lead breaks, dash 2 breaks, 10 seconds later, it's my turn; here goes nothing. We briefed that we'd do two touch and go's prior to putting the hook down and thank god for that. My airwork was crap in the approach turn, but somehow the VSI oscillations worked out and I managed to show up in the groove with a slightly high ball (which is actually better than a centered ball) and flew the pass just like I was landing on 19L at Meridian. After that touch and go, it was pretty obvious that this wasn't any different than bouncing at home and the next two days went fairly well. The whole experience was amazing and stands as a testament to what good training can accomplish. I don't consider myself much more than the average pilot and I am confident that anyone on this board, given the same training, could successfully trap on the boat. Just a couple of other thoughts: We were told that for recovery, 20-25kts of relative wind is ideal, relative wind being the "natural" wind plus however fast the CV is moving. In theory this would make the landing much slower, however we aim for a 12-15 second groove length no matter what the relative wind is, so you still end up with the same amount of time on final which, for me, didn't make it any easier. What relative wind does do however is reduce stress on the tailhook and the arresting gear. As far as the angled deck goes, I'd say it was barely noticeable. It was a little strange having to turn >180 degrees from the abeam, but once in the groove, maybe a few more centerline corrections than at a field, but glideslope control definitely dominates your scan. Thanks for letting me brag a little. It was a great day and I can't wait to go back.
You have managed to overcome fear.....that isn't bragging. I honestly don't remember my T-2C traps....I was scared &%#less Dogdish ps.....have fun on the night traps ;-)....just kidding
