If, for example, on approach you decrease pitch, the primay effect will be an increase in speed and a reduction in aoa. In reality, every control input has a primary and seconday effect. It's imprtant to note here that this is a VERY simplistic view. According to this technique the proper situation remedies are:

If you have ever heard a real Navy jet landing, you know how often power is being adjusted. This does not mean to go back and forth between idle and burner, it simply means that you should be constanly making adjustments.

The throttle should not be in the same position for more that 2 seconds. Power, on the other hand, should be moving CONSTANTLY. In reality you will need to make SMALL adjustments to pitch as well. What this means is that in a perfect world once you are set-up and start your approach, the stick should be relatively still with only small movements left and right to correct line-up (since you you should be trimmed 'on-speed'). The proper technique is to use POWER to control glideslope and PITCH to control speed (or more accurately: AOA). This will only result in you landing in an incorrect aoa and speed. The biggest mistake people make with landing on a carrier is using the pitch to control glideslope and power to control speed. If you have an 'orange donut' you are 'on-speed' for your weight.īeing fairly proficient at getting aboard the ship here is the best tutorial I can give you: If it points down, you need to pitch down. If it points up, you are fast, and need to pitch up and adjust power to keep a center ball. The indexer tells you what to do with your nose. There is only a set angle of attack, represented by the indexer next to the hud.

Now, there is no set speed for the approach as it will vary with weight. If you have ever seen a real F-18 hit hard you know how 'springy' the real gear is, too! Since the gear is not designed to take that kind of initial hit, and it is a little 'springy', you will get a good bounce out of it. So, if you are maintaining the ball's glideslope (it is fairly accurate) and landing on all three tires at the same time, you are fast and creating a lot more inertia. You should be trapping on the deck in a nose-high attitude, landing on the main mounts first. This does NOT hold true for tricycle gear aircraft like the F-18. The term is derived from tail-dragger airplanes where a good landing came when you landed on all 3 tires at the same time. I'm not sure if you're using the term 3 point landing correctly or not. However, you should still be able to trap sucessfully if you fly the proper glideslope and speed. You are right, the gear is a little sensitive. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! The thread above has other comments and things I have tried. I was hoping for a better tutorial or more details to perfect the landings. Anyone having the same problem with the F18 being over sensitive like this? seems like the gear is to springy or something.' Everytime I land, I catch the cable but plane always nose dives on the deck even though I just did a 3 point landing. Previous planes I have had no problems what so ever landing. I rarely have been able to land the FSX-A F18 on the carrier during the carrier landing practice mission. I have noticed the flight characteristics are vastly different than some of the user designed planes like the KBT f18 and the f14 in the downloads area. 'Now that I have the acceleration add on pack installed. I posted this on simviation as well but not had much success- here is my post: I am hoping someone can help me with Carrier Landings. Hi all.just stumbled across this board and notice some real good information.

F18 carrier landing cockpit view