Joined: May 05, 2009 - 10:31 PM
Posts: 7884
Location: OZ
No. Written by the naughty 'sergeantMAC' I'll guess but not Bogdan. IMHO. The last bit about hook redesign is OFF but I may have misread it (see the recent Lakehurst post about how the hook needs to catch the wire under all circumstances - not just onboard). http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopi ... t-225.html Stroll down.
This is the phrase from above blogpost that is the issue: "...the two that weren’t caught was because the pilot didn’t hit his mark. Maybe the smarter ones among their readers will eventually figure out that unlike our test configuration, that’s the reason there’s more than one wire on the big deck carriers...."
We have no information AFAIK about the test setup - which is probably irrelevant in the context. The only thing the test pilot can do to miss the wire in ideal conditions is to 'land long' - land beyond any wires so that the hook has no chance to engage the wire(s). However the test pilot is probably tasked during these tests to land at different locations according to test criteria (which we do not know). As seen in the Super Hornet landing tests the landings can damage airframes (but would guess that these tests were not part of arrested landing tests - perhaps they were - because on a carrier things can go wonky quickly). Whatever.
How does the pilot approach? Using the IFLOLS the pilot can land with the meatball centred - on speed - on lineup OR he can land with various other criteria: Not on speed (FAST or SLOW) NOT linedup left/right and land with the meatball elsewhere other than centred.
Landing FAST or SLOW (not at Optimum Angle of Attack which airspeed varies with the weight of the aircraft so only Opt AoA is used) means the hook point can be higher or lower according to the 'hook / eye point' vertical distance criteria. At optimum AoA the hook point will always be the same vertical distance below the pilot eye. The pilot views the IFLOLS guage so this distance is used to calculate where the hook point will be when the pilot views a centred ball. Hopefully the pilot eye will never hit the deck. And of course the hook usually touches down first followed by main wheels then nosewheel in the ideal Optimum Angle of Attack (ON speed) touchdown with power on etc.
Not likely, There is a few comments in there that wouldn't go over well with his superiors. That and the part where the reference is coming from http://www.theonion.com
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Written by the naughty 'sergeantMAC' I'll guess but not Bogdan. 