Auto Carrier Landings?

[Fetter]

I was just playing Jane's F/A-18 and the super hornet had a system that brought the aircraft right in on the carrier's 3 wire at night. Does this exist today?

 

[TurnandBurn55]

Affirm. You can couple pitch and roll to the ACLS for the "auto" approach (Mode 1)

 

[Wankertank]

Yea, according to what I saw on the History Channel a new system is being developed called JPALS, which is a GPS based replacement for both ACLS and TACAN...among other things they mentioned I don't remember. Have any of you guys worked with it...or is it a VX thing?

 

[JIMMY]

3 wire are u sure? i thought i remember the ACLS on that game always giving you a 1 wire or something. could be wrong.

 

[Fly Navy]

3 wire are u sure? i thought i remember the ACLS on that game always giving you a 1 wire or something. could be wrong.

Real life it will target nearly the same exact point each time. You can tell it where to target (you meaning the ship). It's precise enough to leave a consistent dent in the flight deck from the hook impact. At least, this is what I've been told by my instructors who've used it.

 

[Brett327]

Yea, according to what I saw on the History Channel a new system is being developed called JPALS, which is a GPS based replacement for both ACLS and TACAN...among other things they mentioned I don't remember. Have any of you guys worked with it...or is it a VX thing?

There must be some way for such a system to factor in the ship's movement and link that to the jet. As long as they're doing that, it would be nice to press a button and receive your Marshalling instructions, complete with charlie times, etc, which would automatically go into your Nav system/AFCS.

Brett

 

[Fly Navy]

There must be some way for such a system to factor in the ship's movement and link that to the jet. As long as they're doing that, it would be nice to press a button and receive your Marshalling instructions, complete with charlie times, etc, which would automatically go into your Nav system/AFCS.

Brett

That'd be freakin sweet.

 

[JIMMY]

Thx for the info Fly. I was just talking about the game, not real life, but its good to know how accurate it really is.


-jP

 

[A4sForever]

What are the limits on the Mode 1 system?? The deck pitching, rolling, and heaving ... etc., etc. ???

 

[hscs]

My guess is that the 3 wire is close to the ship's center of flotation -- the point where the boat will pitch. A system to correct for the random response of the ship to the sea would be extremely complicated, in my opinion...

 

[bunk22]

There must be some way for such a system to factor in the ship's movement and link that to the jet. As long as they're doing that, it would be nice to press a button and receive your Marshalling instructions, complete with charlie times, etc, which would automatically go into your Nav system/AFCS.

Brett

Now that would have been very nice.

 

[PU Grad]

I am amazed at the response for this compared to the response for the auto air to air refuelling.

(I didn't look back at the other post, but I seem to remember alot of people saying, "never in my cockpit")

 

[Brett327]

I am amazed at the response for this compared to the response for the auto air to air refuelling.

(I didn't look back at the other post, but I seem to remember alot of people saying, "never in my cockpit")

Not me - bring it on. The less I have to sweat the admin portions of the flight, the more attention I can focus on other more important things, like where my sandwich is or how I can trick the pilot into looking outside while I wipe a booger on his trim hat.

Brett

 

[Fetter]

3 wire are u sure? i thought i remember the ACLS on that game always giving you a 1 wire or something. could be wrong.

I was doing (game) night landings when I played around with that, so I couldn't really see the wires at all. I thought it was the 3 wire based on where the plane stopped on the deck, but after trying it in daylight, it always hits the 1 wire. Regardless, it is still pretty cool. One thing I have noticed in Jane's F/A-18 is that refueling mid-air is nearly impossible, how did you do with that jp?

 

[Fly Navy]

My guess is that the 3 wire is close to the ship's center of flotation -- the point where the boat will pitch. A system to correct for the random response of the ship to the sea would be extremely complicated, in my opinion...

They can target any wire. Sometimes the 3 wire isn't rigged. So they'll target 2 wire... or maybe 4 wire. Maybe they'll have two wires stripped... yick. The Reagan only has 3 wires, as opposed to the standard 4 wire setup. It's all variable.