Carrier Landings

[SUBS17]

i can't even maintain the suggested speed.... what should i do? lol

In FSX acceleration I've found that 140-150kts to be the best approach speed any faster and it tends to be too fast resulting in a crash. (IRL its 134kts )Slower than 140kts tends to give a high AoA which results in the tail hitting the deck.

That is exactly what I am finding out now.  I also learned that landing with nearly a full fuel payload is almost next to impossible...to keep the donut i need to have a fairly high airspeed. So I have been dumping my fuel to under 5000lbs and that seems to help me with my landings.  I still need to practice though but it is getting better thanks to the info in this thread.

Ya know I don't bother dumping fuel and have no problems landing with full tanks I suggest you do the tutorial but just use a slightly higher speed like 140kts for your approach. Also if you use the aicarrier mod from AV sim you can practice on a stationary carrier which is alot easier.

[Razgriz]

Real hornet traps at 140

[micro]

Really I'm traping at 140-150kts no problem at 126kts the sink rate is too high as is the AoA so answer me this are you flying the Hornet in acceleration and are you really landing on the carrier or are you just making this up? Seriously the real Hornets trap at a higher speed than 126kts IRL.

You are not reading my posts. You are right, real hornets do trap at a higher speed (about 134kts usually). However, real hornets do not come back to the boat in the configuration and fuel state that you are in. Landing on the ship with full tanks and nothing hanging off of the wings is just not going to happen "IRL". The only time that you are going to have a clean airplane like the one in Acceleration is when you are doing CARQUALS (carrier qualification). The only thing that I can figure is that you are not using your flaps full down. Look from the spot view when you are set up. Are the flaps full down?

Yes, I really am landing in Acceleration. All of these landing were mine.

http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=291.0

[micro]

Real hornet traps at 140

Where did you hear that?

[deltaleader]

Ya know I don't bother dumping fuel and have no problems landing with full tanks I suggest you do the tutorial but just use a slightly higher speed like 140kts for your approach. Also if you use the aicarrier mod from AV sim you can practice on a stationary carrier which is alot easier.
[/quote]

I have done the tutorial and use the aircarrier mod for practice.  I use full flaps and probably just need to come in with a little more speed like you said.

[SUBS17]

Really I'm traping at 140-150kts no problem at 126kts the sink rate is too high as is the AoA so answer me this are you flying the Hornet in acceleration and are you really landing on the carrier or are you just making this up? Seriously the real Hornets trap at a higher speed than 126kts IRL.

You are not reading my posts. You are right, real hornets do trap at a higher speed (about 134kts usually). However, real hornets do not come back to the boat in the configuration and fuel state that you are in. Landing on the ship with full tanks and nothing hanging off of the wings is just not going to happen "IRL". The only time that you are going to have a clean airplane like the one in Acceleration is when you are doing CARQUALS (carrier qualification). The only thing that I can figure is that you are not using your flaps full down. Look from the spot view when you are set up. Are the flaps full down?

Yes, I really am landing in Acceleration. All of these landing were mine.

http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=291.0

I've landed with Flaps in both half and full positions I also find the flare can bleed the speed a fair bit as well so an approach of 150kts and a flare can drop it to 140kts as well for the trap. BTW regarding the weight perhaps that detail hasn't yet fully been implemented in FSX because it doesn't really make much difference. Another observation is the FPM is shaking on finals and I'm wondering why that is in the Carrier quals mission?

[micro]

I've landed with Flaps in both half and full positions I also find the flare can bleed the speed a fair bit as well so an approach of 150kts and a flare can drop it to 140kts as well for the trap. BTW regarding the weight perhaps that detail hasn't yet fully been implemented in FSX because it doesn't really make much difference. Another observation is the FPM is shaking on finals and I'm wondering why that is in the Carrier quals mission?

There are no "flares" on carrier landings. It's a stablized approach all the way down. Also, something that I just remembered: if you are landing with full tanks you are way over the maximum landing weight for the F-18.

FSX does take weight into consideration. Fly with full tanks, get a donut, and note the speed. Then drop your fuel to only 50% in the wings and 0% in all the other tanks. Then go see what speed gets you a donut. It will be a lower speed.

The FPM is shaking due to wind and turbulence. If you want ot get rid of the shaking clear all the weather.
 

[SUBS17]

Ya know I haven't seen any HUD tapes of FPMs behaving like that so thats something I might have to ask around about. So does anyone know the max carrier landing weight for the Hornet? As for the flare well each to their own its not a full flare as such but it does work might be why I can land with full tanks.

[fael097]

HERE IS THE DEAL.

im stabilized exatcly at 134kts, and my AOA is correct according to the indicator. BUT the glideslope says im too low. then he says im in the right place. then he says im too high! then i missed the cables!!! but im stabilized at 134kts and my aoa is ok!

wtf?!?! these thingies arent working or what

[micro]

Ya know I haven't seen any HUD tapes of FPMs behaving like that so thats something I might have to ask around about. So does anyone know the max carrier landing weight for the Hornet? As for the flare well each to their own its not a full flare as such but it does work might be why I can land with full tanks.

The real HUD is a lot more smooth. It "averages" out your flight path to compinsate for bumps. It looks like the one in FSXA gives you exact information which causes jittering.

The maximum landing weight (MAXTRAP) on the F-18C is 34,000 lbs. Meaning if you luanch with full internal gas and don't get rid of some, you'll be about 600 lbs over maxtrap when you come in. It may not sound like much, and I'm not sure that FSXA will cause you to crash because of it, but it will make you: a) come in fast, and b) hit hard.

As for the flare, you're absolutely right. Thats the beauty of Sims. You can do what you want and have fun with it. I was just trying to give guys info on making it as real as possible.

[SUBS17]

HERE IS THE DEAL.

im stabilized exatcly at 134kts, and my AOA is correct according to the indicator. BUT the glideslope says im too low. then he says im in the right place. then he says im too high! then i missed the cables!!! but im stabilized at 134kts and my aoa is ok!

wtf?!?! these thingies arent working or what

Unfortunately I think the LSO is scripted which is why it does that BTW just do it seat of the pants you can't go wrong. Does anyone know if the LSO can be activated in normal free flight or online flying or does it require mission script? And does the carrier have ATC and if so whats the freqs?

[fael097]

HERE IS THE DEAL.

im stabilized exatcly at 134kts, and my AOA is correct according to the indicator. BUT the glideslope says im too low. then he says im in the right place. then he says im too high! then i missed the cables!!! but im stabilized at 134kts and my aoa is ok!

wtf?!?! these thingies arent working or what

Unfortunately I think the LSO is scripted which is why it does that BTW just do it seat of the pants you can't go wrong. Does anyone know if the LSO can be activated in normal free flight or online flying or does it require mission script? And does the carrier have ATC and if so whats the freqs?

actually i was talking about the meatball, not the LSO, lol

and yea, i would like to know if it is possible to activate the lso and carrier atc, or ILS, w/e, in free flight
thanks

[micro]

The LSO isn't "scripted", but his verbage is limited. I have found him to be pretty accurate though. If you fly a good approach you should never hear him after "call the ball". Not to beat the horse, but if you fly the ball and are on speed, you'll be good. Also, he is only there during the missions.

[fael097]

what i was trying to say is that i was flying the ball and the glideslope @ 134kts but i always missed the cables, but nevermind, i had 0lbs of fuel with unlimited fuel on... 20% fuel made a big difference

and btw, now i know you cant find him on free flight, but i still dont know if theres a way to activate the ILS for the carrier... i was watching that video with the real hornet landing, pilot POV, and his hud appear to have some indicator for the runway and the altitude i think.. not sure tho

[micro]

Hmm, not sure why you missed. As far as the ILS carrier, no dice. Because the carriers are intended to move, putting an ILS on them would be tough. What you saw on the hud were the Instrument Carrier Landing System (ICLS) needles. They work just like a regular ILS. You use them until you get the ball in sight and then transfer to it. But again, it's gong to be awhile before we get an ICLS in Flight Simulator.