Landing the F-18 on a carrier is costing me a fortune!

[BobP 56]

I am having a difficult time flying a pattern and landing on a carrier. Are F-18's very expensive? So far I have made one successful landing out of 15. Trimming the plane is difficult (for me). I have not tried flying the pattern and approach with auto. That doesn't hit me as a manly fighter pilot thing. :) Or is that how it is done?I spent several days practicing landings at Naval airports, but carrier landings are a bit harder. :) I did watch a video of an approach and landing posted here, but my movie consistently ends poorly. Could some of you who have mastered the carrier landings provide me with your techniques as it applies to FSX. Thanks.Bob...

[Manny 1,293]

Some basic things.1. Maintain 135 knots on approach.2. Don't flare on landing like we do at normal airports. There is no room to bleed off speed.3. aim for the 3rd chord. The trap line. counting from the outside/nearest to you as one...4. setup properly for approach... no last minute wild maneuvers to make it.

[Guest JIMJAM]

For training use slew [Y] key. If you get bent out of shape,slew the plane back,line it up and try again.Also turn off or way down damage in realism.Use a low fuel load to reduce planes weight.Most Ive seen come in to fast and try to slam it on.Or to slow with the nose comes up and you cannot see anything.I programmed elevator trim into my Saitc x52 on a hat switch and can almost hands off a landing.Also raise your perspective in the vr cockpit up so you can see over the nose.Hope these tips help.

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

Yes, these are good hints.I've found the following common mistakes will cause a failed landing, and a trip to the captain's quarters for a good chewing (ala Maverick):1) Too much speed (snaps the cable) or causes you to miss the cable (bolter)2) Descent rate over 500 fps (this is the biggie right here ... causes your gear to collapse)3) Maneuvering immediately prior to hitting the deck... for example, if you land on the right-rear wheel because you corrected at the last moment, the cable will snap you back left and send you over onto your side (or even over the side)4) Nose up attitude ... causes the cable to snap your nose down on landing, collapsing the nose gear. You want all 3 gear hitting very close to simultaneously.5) Not enough speed ... causing you to detour into the spud locker.6) Bolter failure - that is ... when you bolter (miss the cables) you forget to throttle up for the inevitable takeoff you are about to perform.Line up ... watch your speed and especially pay attention to your descent rate, using the meatball to guide you. It's ALWAYS better to go around than risk it.On the Carrier IMC mission, I had to go around 3 times (on low fuel) before I had everything lined out and could put her on the deck successfully.

[Guest jprintz]

The attached jpegs describe the carrier landing pattern. I would say to forget airspeed and fly the Angle of Attack that puts a lone yellow donut on your AoA Indexer. (Those are the 3 little lights left of the HUD glass.) I also wouldn't worry about the vertical speed with which you hit the deck. It could easily be over 700 fpm, and that landing gear is made for that.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/179869.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/179871.jpgI will also soon be uploading a revised HUD, very close to the real F/A-18's, that makes landings much more realistic, as it has an accurate velocity vector and pitch ladder, plus other carrier pattern essentials. I've also made it more framerate friendly.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/179872.jpgAs you can tell, I am just THRILLED that we now have moving carriers and a proper "meatball"!!!

[Gypsy Baron 10]

In my experience in FS9 ( non-moving CV's ) and FSX ( moving CV's )the one thing that made a huge difference was having the windover the deck from bow to stern.For that reason alone, I deleted the default CVN off San Franciscoin FS9 and placed one "steaming" out from the Golden Gate as theprevalent wind in SF if from the west. The default FS9 ( and FSX )fixed CVN's are "sailing" east....with the wind most of the time( I use real world weather ).In FSX I have downloaded the "aicarriers1.zip" and "aicarriers2.zip" as well as another package by the author of those two called "AIBoat Utility", available on his site.That let's me place moving CVN's in FSX wherever I choose and settheir courses to sail "into the wind" for that region.If there is a cross-wind over the deck you can pretty much beassured of a botched landing attempt. Paul

[Guest S77th-GOYA]

>I will also soon be uploading a revised HUD, very close to the>real F/A-18's, that makes landings much more realistic, as it>has an accurate velocity vector and pitch ladder, plus other>carrier pattern essentials. I've also made it more framerate>friendly.An accurate velocity vector alone would be very nice. I don't suppose you can give it autotrim too? ;-)

[Guest]

That looks awesome, can't wait!As far as the OP's problem goes: fsxmissionguy pretty much covers all the problems most people have. My main issue was nailing the descent right, 800-900 FPM was just too much, but practice practice practice and you'll get better. My record now is 10 traps in a row.

[Guest JIMJAM]

A nice HUD with all the real info would be great-BUT--I am yet to see one that did not slaughter FPS.Those were for FS9.The few Ive seen for FSX were basic and ate fps.However, the f-18 hud from MS is basic but Im getting good performance.

[BobP 56]

Thanks everyone! I have been flying the "FS" series since Sublogic and consider myself accomplished in non military aircraft. Rarely have I not been able to quickly learn a new plane's procedures and systems, however, carrier landings are quite a challenge. (read kicking my butt:)). Great!! Thanks again to all for the detailed suggestions and procedures! And I look forward to upgraded HUD displays! I have much room for improvement. LOL.Bob...

[Hollywood 1]

>The attached jpegs describe the carrier landing pattern. I>would say to forget airspeed and fly the Angle of Attack that>puts a lone yellow donut on your AoA Indexer. (Those are the 3>little lights left of the HUD glass.) I also wouldn't worry>about the vertical speed with which you hit the deck. It could>easily be over 700 fpm, and that landing gear is made for>that.>>http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/179869.jpg>>http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/179871.jpg>>I will also soon be uploading a revised HUD, very close to the>real F/A-18's, that makes landings much more realistic, as it>has an accurate velocity vector and pitch ladder, plus other>carrier pattern essentials. I've also made it more framerate>friendly.>>>http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/179872.jpg>>>As you can tell, I am just THRILLED that we now have moving>carriers and a proper "meatball"!!!>>>Thanks for the information.Looking forward to a realistic HUD. Remember, MS$ modelled an A Model and CaptainSim a D. The avionics, including HUD are diffrent than the C/D E/F/G models ;)Wonder if anyone can get me that RWR setup in my D :)CheersMartin

[Guest jprintz]

Yeah, I feel your pain JimJam, believe me. But there's very little framerate loss in this instance. I just did a side by side comparison, swapping panel.cfg's and comparing identical FSXRecorder replays. Maybe a 10-15% hit... maybe... but hard to tell, as my system shows 12 to 15 FPS pretty consistently for both. Anyway, that possible 10-15% may be too much of a hit for some, but for the accuracy and quality of info a good HUD gives, I think a lot of people would be willing to make that tradeoff. And of course it's just more realistic. I personally could never go back to the old-style FS HUD's. Here are a few videos of what it should look like for a Hornet pilot:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...eoID=1353947019Some of the above (courseline steering arrow and dots, ILS needles) can't be reproduced with the new Acceleration moving carriers, since a VOR would be needed on the carrier, and moving navaids are not possible. Everything else can be.Oh, and a better look at the Hornet symbology:

[Guest FlyingBear]

Any one recommend a good FA-18 for FSX?I was using the aerial foundry FA-18s in FS9 but I'm not sure if they will port over into FSX?CheersPetehttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg

[Snowfalcon 18]

Yea use the one in the acceleration expansion. It's pretty good all things considered.

[atrdriver 7]

Does anyone know if you can bring up ILS data in the HUD in the F/A-18 in FSX Acceleration? AOA bracket? I haven't seen either, although it looks like you should be able to enter an ILS freq in the UFC. I can't find any info on this anywhere.Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!Terry