I’m not sure if you know this yet, but I’m a fan of everything aviation related. My wife graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and I was her first private pilot student. My childhood dream of flying finally became a reality in the mid 90’s. And I suggest anyone interested in becoming a pilot to go out and pursue that dream as well. Totally worth it. Although I didn’t fly in the military, it’s hard not to appreciate the skill necessary to land an aircraft on the deck of a ship. Below is a video containing a few routine landings, along with a couple unconventional landings.
What you’ll notice from the F-18 pilots cockpit videos are the control inputs on the stick and throttle. While most general aviation aircraft use pitch to control the rate of descent, the F-18 pilots use the throttle. Add gas to decrease the sink rate and flatten out a bit, reduce gas to continue descending. It takes a ton of concentration, hand-eye coordination and some seat-of-the-pants feel to make a safe landing. Throw in night operations and foul weather and I’ll bet the pucker factor increases a bit.
What blew my mind is the C-130 landing on the aircraft carrier. No tail hook to slow it down and no catapult to launch it. It looks like the pilots were able to stop the large C-130 aircraft in a couple hundred feet!
You've reached your daily free article limit.
Subscribe and support our veteran writing staff to continue reading.
I’m not sure if you know this yet, but I’m a fan of everything aviation related. My wife graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and I was her first private pilot student. My childhood dream of flying finally became a reality in the mid 90’s. And I suggest anyone interested in becoming a pilot to go out and pursue that dream as well. Totally worth it. Although I didn’t fly in the military, it’s hard not to appreciate the skill necessary to land an aircraft on the deck of a ship. Below is a video containing a few routine landings, along with a couple unconventional landings.
What you’ll notice from the F-18 pilots cockpit videos are the control inputs on the stick and throttle. While most general aviation aircraft use pitch to control the rate of descent, the F-18 pilots use the throttle. Add gas to decrease the sink rate and flatten out a bit, reduce gas to continue descending. It takes a ton of concentration, hand-eye coordination and some seat-of-the-pants feel to make a safe landing. Throw in night operations and foul weather and I’ll bet the pucker factor increases a bit.
What blew my mind is the C-130 landing on the aircraft carrier. No tail hook to slow it down and no catapult to launch it. It looks like the pilots were able to stop the large C-130 aircraft in a couple hundred feet!
Feature image courtesy of YoutTube
This article was written by Erik Meisner and was originally published on LoadOutRoom.com
Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis.
TRY 14 DAYS FREEAlready a subscriber? Log In
COMMENTS
You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article.