Carrier Confusion

[Bulldog 0]

Since I got WOV I have noticed that sometimes when I'm doing a campaign from a carrier, on the return leg on autopilot the carrier is lying dead in the water and is not at the heading it should be according to the waypoints...I approach the ship from either port or starboard, and if I were to continue I'd crash into the side. Any way to fix this?

[+Typhoid 231]

Since I got WOV I have noticed that sometimes when I'm doing a campaign from a carrier, on the return leg on autopilot the carrier is lying dead in the water and is not at the heading it should be according to the waypoints...I approach the ship from either port or starboard, and if I were to continue I'd crash into the side. Any way to fix this?

 

land manually from astern?

[Bulldog 0]

LOL...really trying to avoid that since I suck at it...anyway the AI won't do it and will all crash, if that happens I'll run out of pilots PDQ. I have been just hitting Escape as I near the carrier, guess I'll keep doing that.

[SandyC 2]

LOL...really trying to avoid that since I suck at it...anyway the AI won't do it and will all crash, if that happens I'll run out of pilots PDQ. I have been just hitting Escape as I near the carrier, guess I'll keep doing that.

 

I think you may find that the AI does in fact land on the carriers. I have seen this happen before and it occasionally happens on runways. The AI comes down across the runway/carrier and then swings hard sideways. Weird but it works - except when it doesn't! On other occasions the AI lands beautifully from astern. The effect is a bit random, to say the least.

[+JSF_Aggie 1,292]

Bulldog,

 

What you're describing happens to me 100% of the time, if the mission is extremely long. It's as if the carrier has a predefined route, and if it reaches the end, it stops.

 

If I use ALT-N to get back to the ship, after completing my objective, I rarely get the stuck carrier. I have never seen a case of the AI failing to land, if the carrier is moving. If the carrier is stopped, you'll see the AI do as you describe.

 

I've tried increasing the size of the carrier's target area in the terrain's _targets.ini, hoping to increase the area the carrier has to rome, with no luck.

 

I've told TK about this. His comment was that he hadn't seen it, but that he doesn't usually fly a complete mission straight though, from start to end, because of the time envolved.

Edited May 15, 2007 by JSF_Aggie

[Bulldog 0]

That makes sense, I'll try that.

[+drdoyo 2]

I've seen this too. I've found that if I don't skip a waypoint and then back up to the waypoint after the objective when I leave the objective that the carrier usually doesn't even exist on the map anymoe. I've cycled all the suface object views and it just isn't there. Then after I cycle waypoints, what you ae describing happens. The longe the mission, the moe chance the CV will be dead in the water. I don't have trouble manually landing though, I pefer to hand fly the entire mission.

 

I agee Aggie, it's like the CV ends up with no place to go, or disappears completely during longer missions.

[Bulldog 0]

Finally looked at the missions list and found the carrier landing one...doh...I'm starting to think flying manual may be a more realistic way to do it. Any tips drdoyo?

[+littlesmoke 64]

what i do:

 

after completing mission, next-waypoint (alt+n) home.

 

when i come out of warp, hit the autopilot, which seems to disregard the game's waypoint directions, and heads toward the carrier.

 

about 1 mile from the next waypoint, i disengage the AP and fly the last leg myself ( i like to drop gears etc... manually)

[+drdoyo 2]

Bulldog, All I can say is practice, practice, practice.

 

Airspeed is very importat and as in real aircraft type dependant.

For instance I land my F-14 at about 135 kias. The A-6 approach speed is 115 kias by comparison. The proper speed gives the proper angle of attack, and pitch angle usually about 3 degrees of descent (glide slope) and 3-5 degrees nose up. Use the AOA indexer lights next to the HUD. You want the green circle lit as much as possible.

 

Lineup is very important. You want to keep the jet lined up on the centerline of the landing area all the way to the stop. Since the boat is moving, and the landing area is angled you need to keep the nose to the right side of the landing area on the approach. If you are lined up properly, you'll see the ceterline straight away from you all the way down, and your nose will slowy move from right of center at the beginning to onto the centerline at touchdown.

 

Next the aim point for the touchdown. That is a spot in the center of the 4 cables. You want that spot to remain in the same spot on your windscreen. Some aircraft ike the FA-18A hace a veocity vector in the HUD which shows the jet's fight path. In this instance you put the velocity vector in a line even with your touchdown point. As you pass over the ramp, your velocity vector should be right between the 2nd and 3rd cable and on the centerline, and your wings should be level. On aircraft without a velocity vector, you have to go back to using the ol spot in the window method which is the same really, except you have to mentally impose your flight path on the glass. You do that by observing during the descent which spot appears to not be moving in the glass as you get closer. OR you put your touchdown spot where you want it, and see what it is doing. If it is moving UP the window your glide path is too steep and you need to add power. IF your spot is moving DOWN on the glass your glide path is too shallow and you need to remove power. NEVER pitch. Pitch controls speed in most sims, just as it does in real life. Power controls glide path (or descent rate).

 

Gear, Flaps, Hooks, and Boards (Speed Brakes): When I dirty up depends (as in real life) on the type of approach I'm makeing. On a visual approach I'm likely to dirty in closer than when doing an instrument approach. On instrument approaches you want the jet slowed to approach speed farther out to stabilize the approach. The closer you get to the touchdown point the smaller the corrections need to be and the margine for error decreases as the "cone" of the signal gets smaller. If you are at 135 kias you have more time to make the corrections nessessary than you do at 400 kias. For the visual approach, you just need to keep the speed slow enough to get dirty and stabilize at Final Approach speed (Known as Vref +10) before 1 mile behind the boat. Depoying Speed Brakes is an aircraft dependant operation. The F-14s landed with the boards out, while FA-18s do not. What this does on the aircraft which use the speed brakes during CV landing is create a higher power setting for an on speed approach, and a more managable and stabiized approach. This way if you do have to go around, there is less time required for the engines to spool up to max power, just dont forget to retract the speed brakes when you put the power in.

 

Sorry I didn't answer sooner. I've been stressed out and exhausted the last two weeks. I'm in transition training to another airplane at work. Hurdle 1 is over, I passed the written test on systems today.....but no rest for the weary, verbals, sims and checkrides to go.

[Bulldog 0]

No problem, thanks for the tips!

[Caveman 1]

drdoyo what if i may ask are you going to be flying now??

[Skelator56 0]

Bulldog, All I can say is practice, practice, practice.

 

Airspeed is very importat and as in real aircraft type dependant.

For instance I land my F-14 at about 135 kias. The A-6 approach speed is 115 kias by comparison. The proper speed gives the proper angle of attack, and pitch angle usually about 3 degrees of descent (glide slope) and 3-5 degrees nose up. Use the AOA indexer lights next to the HUD. You want the green circle lit as much as possible.

 

Lineup is very important. You want to keep the jet lined up on the centerline of the landing area all the way to the stop. Since the boat is moving, and the landing area is angled you need to keep the nose to the right side of the landing area on the approach. If you are lined up properly, you'll see the ceterline straight away from you all the way down, and your nose will slowy move from right of center at the beginning to onto the centerline at touchdown.

 

Next the aim point for the touchdown. That is a spot in the center of the 4 cables. You want that spot to remain in the same spot on your windscreen. Some aircraft ike the FA-18A hace a veocity vector in the HUD which shows the jet's fight path. In this instance you put the velocity vector in a line even with your touchdown point. As you pass over the ramp, your velocity vector should be right between the 2nd and 3rd cable and on the centerline, and your wings should be level. On aircraft without a velocity vector, you have to go back to using the ol spot in the window method which is the same really, except you have to mentally impose your flight path on the glass. You do that by observing during the descent which spot appears to not be moving in the glass as you get closer. OR you put your touchdown spot where you want it, and see what it is doing. If it is moving UP the window your glide path is too steep and you need to add power. IF your spot is moving DOWN on the glass your glide path is too shallow and you need to remove power. NEVER pitch. Pitch controls speed in most sims, just as it does in real life. Power controls glide path (or descent rate).

 

Gear, Flaps, Hooks, and Boards (Speed Brakes): When I dirty up depends (as in real life) on the type of approach I'm makeing. On a visual approach I'm likely to dirty in closer than when doing an instrument approach. On instrument approaches you want the jet slowed to approach speed farther out to stabilize the approach. The closer you get to the touchdown point the smaller the corrections need to be and the margine for error decreases as the "cone" of the signal gets smaller. If you are at 135 kias you have more time to make the corrections nessessary than you do at 400 kias. For the visual approach, you just need to keep the speed slow enough to get dirty and stabilize at Final Approach speed (Known as Vref +10) before 1 mile behind the boat. Depoying Speed Brakes is an aircraft dependant operation. The F-14s landed with the boards out, while FA-18s do not. What this does on the aircraft which use the speed brakes during CV landing is create a higher power setting for an on speed approach, and a more managable and stabiized approach. This way if you do have to go around, there is less time required for the engines to spool up to max power, just dont forget to retract the speed brakes when you put the power in.

 

Sorry I didn't answer sooner. I've been stressed out and exhausted the last two weeks. I'm in transition training to another airplane at work. Hurdle 1 is over, I passed the written test on systems today.....but no rest for the weary, verbals, sims and checkrides to go.

 

Hello drdoyo,

 

It sounds like you have found a way of landing different aircraft (F-14s and F/A-18s) on the boat in WoV. I have tried to add a few carrier campaigns in the past but have not had any luck. Usually the 'boat' just is not there and the plane explodes when my screen finishes loading ('Tomcats over Libya' was the first one I tried to load).

 

Any help in this area would be appriciated.

 

What type of bird are you upgrading into?

 

Skelator

[+drdoyo 2]

well, I never had the problem of the carrier not being there at the beginning of the mission. I'd look to make sure all of the files are in the right place (CV usually goes in /objects/ groundobject) and check the campaign xxx.ini, and campaign xxxdata.ini files in the campaigns folder and make sure the correct name is used for the carrier's file.

 

I'm transitioning into the EMB-120 Brazilia. LOL I'm going to miss my Ferrari (BE-1900D)

[Skelator56 0]

well, I never had the problem of the carrier not being there at the beginning of the mission. I'd look to make sure all of the files are in the right place (CV usually goes in /objects/ groundobject) and check the campaign xxx.ini, and campaign xxxdata.ini files in the campaigns folder and make sure the correct name is used for the carrier's file.

 

I'm transitioning into the EMB-120 Brazilia. LOL I'm going to miss my Ferrari (BE-1900D)

 

 

Thank you for the carrier ops information. I will give it a go!

 

Congrats of your check and upgrade! Sounds like a lot of fun (and hard work too!). Do you train with Flight Safety as well? My last BFR (last year was in a Pitts S-2C). Fun aircraft, but the front cockpit is way too cramped for being 6 ft 2 ins tall! I might do some transition training down the road at some time.

 

Skelator

[+drdoyo 2]

Yes we do our sim work at Fight Safety for both airplanes. The 1900 is in Orlando and the EMB is in Atlanta. It's funny you should mention being cramped. I first started to think about transitioning about a year ago when my right shoulder started to hurt. I finally realized it was from resting my arm in the window. That was twisting me slightly to the left and lifting my shoulder. I started forcing myself to use the armrests when I wasn't flying the plane. I sat in the left seat a few months later as we waited to board. My Captain was starting Check Airman training and wanted to refamiliarize himself with the right. I realized that the left was an even tighter fit. I decided I need a bigger office!!

Edited May 21, 2007 by drdoyo