Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)

kwaigonegin said:

There are a lot of innacuracies in that sentence above from the article. It implies the pilot uses just the wires as a guide which is obviously wrong. The LSO and the Christmas tree play an even larger role.

Also how many wires are there on the Vik? 3 or 4? pilots usually aim for the 3rd. No naval aviator would try and aim for the first because that's asking for trouble. It means you're landing to close to the stem and could potentially crash into the carrier.
It carrier quals a pilot who consistently misses the 3rd wire is also deemed not very competent and may also effect promotion.

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Air Force Brat said:

Kwai, I could be wrong, but I believe that I read there are only 3 wires on the Vik, the new Ford's only have three wires as well, I assume they must believe the fourth wire to be redundant, and maybe they have played with the spacing of the wires????

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Jeff Head said:

That is correct my friend...three wires on the Vikramaditya.

Count 'em, one...two...three!

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kwaigonegin said:

yeah, I believe Ford class has three wires and that would mean the #2 wire is the hit wire and would be placed very close to where the current #3 is on the Nimitz class. also Not sure how the spacing is. Anyone here got schematics of the Ford deck layout?

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Flight Training Instruction said:

Arresting Gear: The arresting gear is the heart of carrier operations. This mechanical system allows an aircraft travelling at 150 kts to stop in only 320 feet. The Mk 7 Mod 3 arresting gear system that equips all U.S. carriers is composed of the cross deck pendants, the purchase cables and the arresting engine.

The cross deck pendants, also known as arresting cables or wires, are flexible steel stranded cables that span the landing area in 40-foot intervals. NIMITZ class carriers, with the exception of the USS RONALD REAGAN and the USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH, are equipped with four arresting cables. These arresting cables are numbered one through four from aft to forward, the aft most cable being the dreaded one wire (or “Ace”). Aircraft engaging the three wire generally indicates a well-executed approach. The USS RONALD REAGAN and the USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH, as well as all GERALD R. FORD class carriers, have only three cross deck pendants. Wire supports elevate the deck pendants several inches so the tailhook can engage them. Each cross deck pendant is removed and replaced after one-hundred arrested landings.

Connected to each end of the cross deck pendants are terminal couplings that attach the pendants to the purchase cables. The purchase cables run below decks to the arresting engines. During an arrestment, the purchase cables “pay out” as the wire is engaged and transmit the kinetic energy to the arresting engines. The arresting engines are hydro-pneumatic systems that use a ram and fluid within a cylinder to absorb and disperse the energy of the arrestment.

During a normal approach and landing, the pilot will advance the power to Military Rated Thrust (MRT) on touchdown except E-2 and C-2, who maintain approach power upon landing. In the event the tailhook does not engage a cable, the aircraft can quickly become airborne. If the arrestment is successful, the pilot will reduce power to idle when the aircraft is fully stopped, and expeditiously clear the landing area via taxi director signals. The optimal interval between landing aircraft is 40-60 seconds. The main landing interval limiting factor is the fastest a flight deck crew can get an aircraft cleared of the landing area and the arresting gear reset. This takes approximately 35 seconds.

Barricade: The barricade is an emergency recovery system that is used only when a normal arrestment cannot be made. Physically located between the three and four wires, the barricade is normally in a stowed condition and rigged only when required. To rig the barricade, it is stretched across the flight deck between stanchions, which are raised from the flight deck. Rigging the barricade is routinely practiced by flight deck personnel and should be accomplished in under three minutes.

The barricade webbing consists of upper and lower horizontal loading straps joined to each other at the ends. Vertical engaging straps are connected to each upper and lower load strap. The barricade webbing is raised to a height of approximately 20 feet. The barricade webbing engages the wings of the landing aircraft, wherein energy is transmitted from the barricade webbing through the purchase cable to the arresting engine. Following a barricade arrestment, the webbing and deck cables are discarded and the stanchions are lowered back into their recessed slots. Situations requiring a barricade landing include emergency fuel during blue water operations, hook malfunctions, landing gear malfunctions and combat damage.

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Jeff Head said:

The following is from pages 1-7 to 1-8 of the Naval Air Training Command Manual, NAS Corpus Christi, TX, "Flight Training Instruction," about the arresting system, and the aressting cables.



So, four cables on the first eight Nimitz Class carriers, and then three cables on the Reagan, Bush, and Ford Class. Apparently, according to this manual, in all cases they are spaced 40 feet apart.

That gave you a 120 foot long area on the earlier carriers to shoot for, and now an 80 foot long area on the later carriers. But, since everyone avoided Wire #1 like the plague anyway...the reality is that they are shooting at the same actual area on the flight deck.

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kwaigonegin said:

hey look.. it's like I knew what I was talking about

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