F-35C Lands at Lakehurst For Testing

Production milestones, roll-outs, test flights, service introduction and other milestones.
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by spazsinbad » 17 Mar 2015, 03:46

Thanks 'popcorn' - one reason why I started the online PDFs about 'how to deck land' was my effort to learn about the new tech involved today but to help others understand the process - my old experience was with virtually very little technology except AoA Indexer/Mirror and a CCA at night (with an LSO NOT yelling at me). There are not that many conventional deck landers out there and thank heavens a goodly bunch of them have made an effort to explain it - at least online - sadly NepLex is no longer with us to continue his good works. I missed this part from 'neppie' above:
"...Unlike the "tail-hook", I have had landings when it was impossible for anyone to tell the instant when the wheels made contact and we landed and quit flying (load shifted off the lift surfaces, onto the gear); different conditions (hydroplaning was involved) and not to digress. Perhaps this is why the Air Force and Army have backed off the JPALS wagon for a while??."


I think various reports have said the US Air Force have declined to be involved with developing JPALS for their use because of sequestration effects/to save money; whilst they have a good amount of precision approach help already. Moving ships in a seaway are a different kettle of fish - with/without the spud locker. The US Army (and USMC I'll wager) would like to have a portable JPALS developed not only for fixed wing but for helo approaches - so I'll guess the portable JPALS is also on the back burner - ship JPALS no. Below the yellow marked ramp is the spud locker - look at those marks just above the line! I'm hoping they have been made NOT by any Fixed Wing Tyres. :doh:

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C-2A Greyhound COD FS Charles de Gaulle Trap RAMP PilotView.jpg


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by gtg947h » 17 Mar 2015, 11:03

spazsinbad wrote:. Below the yellow marked ramp is the spud locker - look at those marks just above the line! I'm hoping they have been made NOT by any Fixed Wing Tyres.


In all seriousness, I think those might be grease/oil spots from aircraft that were parked there... similar spots elsewhere on the deck resemble the spots in well-seasoned parking lots.


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by spazsinbad » 17 Mar 2015, 16:22

Thanks. Fair enough - did not think of that. Perhaps a visiting V-22 was melting the deck there? :mrgreen: BTW the angle deck on CdeG is 5.5 degrees - same same as HMAS Melbourne - which makes/made that moving to the right centreline less problematic, compared to a 9-10 degree CVN angle deck.


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by spazsinbad » 19 Mar 2015, 04:04

Photo shows the ramp deck part as suggested by 'gtg947h' : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... aulle_(R91)_underway_2009.jpg#/media/File:Charles_De_Gaulle_(R91)_underway_2009.jpg
The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91) underway in 2009
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by spazsinbad » 12 Apr 2015, 19:13

:doh: BTW in the above comment on the CdeG I meant to type 'RAMP DECK PARK' (not 'part') DUH. :doh:

MORon the Magic Carpet (now also 'Delta Flight Path / same same F-35C with IDLC). PDF attached of two pages has all the text and NOW the pretty pictcha has been removed. :( Graphic below now is from previous post about these matters (modified) from:
STRIKE TEST NEWS | Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 Newsletter
2014 Issue VX-23

Caption: "Proposed F/A-18E/F Heads Up Display (HUD) upgrades, including a Ship Referenced Velocity Vector (SRVV), to aid carrier landings"

Source: http://www.navair.navy.mil/nawcad/index ... oad&id=820 (2Mb)

Safer Approach Easier, more accurate and repeatable carrier landings promise improvements
13-26 APR 2015 Graham Warwick

"New flight-control and guidance software for carrier landings will require a culture change within the naval aviation community if it is to deliver on its promise of easier, safer and more repeatable recoveries that reduce pilot workload and wear and tear on the aircraft.

U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) has completed land-based testing of the Magic Carpet software in the Boeing F/A-18E/F at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, and shortly will begin at-sea evaluations on an aircraft carrier of the U.S. East Coast.

Tests show the new flight-control laws and head-up display (HUD) symbology provide the reductions in pilot workload that were predicted in simulations. The Magic Carpet software upgrades are slated to be fielded on the F/A-18E/F in 2018.

In a carrier approach, the pilot must maintain a glideslope angle to clear the stern of the ship and stay aligned with the centerline of the flight deck to keep the wings clear of the superstructure, but also control the angle of attack to within 1 deg. to ensure the lowered arrestor hook catches the wire.

The pilot manually follows optical glideslope guidance from the ship, controlling descent rate with power, airspeed with pitch attitude and heading with roll. But these control axes are cross-coupled, and maintaining glideslope, lineup and angle of attack requires constant throttle and stick inputs.

“If I make a small power correction, I change angle of attack, which affects glideslope, and at the same time I can drift of lineup. There are a lot of things going on,” says Lt. Brent Robinson, test pilot with U.S. Navy evaluation squadron VX-23 at Patuxent River....

...In Magic Carpet, gains and settings in the digital flight-control computer are fine-tuned to hold angle of attack tightly while longitudinal and lateral stick inputs are decoupled. “The primary factor in glideslope is longitudinal stick and in lineup it is lateral stick,” he says.

The control system melds aileron, stabilator and rudder control to maintain attitude. Then the flaps are raised a few degrees from their nominal half or fully deployed position. This gives the control system a few degrees of flap movement to use for direct lift control.

“With aft stick, the flaps lower slightly to increase lift, the stabilator balances pitch, and I get almost pure vertical movement because angle of attack is being held for me. Near-pure lift increase or decrease gives me very high-fidelity control over glideslope,” Robinson says.

The flight-control computer also calculates and maintains the ideal glideslope — 3.5 deg. — using sensed windspeed and ship speed, either estimated by the pilot from the carrier’s wake or called out by the landing signal ofcer on deck.

If high or low, the pilot can make a longitudinal stick input, hold it until centered on the optical guidance “meatball,” then release the stick, and the aircraft will return to the ideal glideslope. “Now I have fine control available. I need to make much less input,” he says.

The new glideslope-holding flightcontrol law is called Delta Path. Magic Carpet also includes a “Rate” mode, which holds flightpath command and not glideslope. This is for use in the pattern and holds bank angle and pitch attitude in the turn to intercept the glideslope.

The other part of Magic Carpet is new HUD symbology that ties the flight control changes together. This includes a horizontal line drawn 3.5 deg. down from the horizon. If this is close to the optical guidance cue from the ship, Robinson explains, the aircraft will be near the required glideslope.

The bigger piece of the new symbology is the ship-referenced velocity vector. “This is referenced to the ship by basic geometry from the ship speed, and if I put it on the centerline and hold 3.5-deg. glideslope, I will land on the centerline,” Robinson says.

Simulator and flight tests indicate that, of the decrease in pilot workload and increase in the accuracy and repeatability of landings from using Magic Carpet, three-quarters come from the flight-control changes and a quarter from the HUD symbology, he continues....

...“When Magic Carpet comes to the fleet in the next few years, there has to be a large cultural change for pilots,” says Robinson. “We are attempting to make this the primary mode of landing and to make manual and autothrottle approaches obsolete.”

Presently, competition between pilots is a major factor in improving their manual-approach flying skills. “We make it competitive. It’s part of the learning curve, of staying sharp. Everyone wants a better score,” he adds.

“With Magic Carpet we will lose that competitive edge, but it will be far more safe and repeatable and will make it easier on maintaining the jets and the aircraft carriers,” Robinson concludes. “But it will be hard to change the mindset. I expect it will start out slow and be phased into the fleet.”

Source: AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY 13-26 APR 2015
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Magic Carpet 13-26 Apr 2015 forumPP2ed.pdf
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by spazsinbad » 15 Apr 2015, 12:22

Paddles Monthly - APARTS Revival [‘Automated Performance and Readiness Training System’]
April 2013 LCDR Stan “Pleber” Hanley, LSO School

"...The transition path from APARTS to iParts has presented us with unique challenges over the past few years. Most recently, the funding for new systems has dried up. However, we are lucky that iParts has received enough funding to be on "life support" until the fiscal climate improves. Until that time, we at the LSO School have taken a few steps to improve the reliability of APARTS until iParts becomes fully online. We have made significant progress in this endeavor, but we still need your help.

As you may know, APARTS's flaws combined with the destructive capability of NMCI erased the LSO School database some time ago. Over the past month, we have slowly begun to rebuild the database. Currently, we have received over 650,000 passes, but we are still waiting on a few air wings. It is important that we get this data, so if you have not yet sent it, do so. First, it brings us into compliance with the CNAF instruction regarding the LSO School database. Second, it allows NAVAIR and fleet forces the ability to analyze this data for historical trends. Most recently, the data is being used to analyze the hook skip bolter rate for the fleet to compare with the future capability of the Joint Strike Fighter. It's something good to talk about over beer. Additionally, we are uploading the data to the iParts server. Because iParts is a modern program, we will be able to store all CV performance data in a centralized database for the first time...."

Source: http://hrana.org/wp-content/uploads/201 ... il2013.pdf (0.8Mb)


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by neptune » 25 Apr 2015, 19:08

[quote="neptune.....MAGIC CARPET..... giving the pilot the opportunity to focus more attention on maintaining a proper line-up..quote]


Latest Up date on Magic Carpet 24Apr15

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2015/04/24/navy- ... hter-jets/

Navy Starts Sea Testing New Carrier Landing Software for Fighter Jets

By Kris Osborn | Friday, April 24th, 2015

The Navy is preparing for its first at-sea test of a new software program for F-18s designed to make it easier for the multi-role fighters to land on carriers. “We’re going to take it to the ship this month,” Rear Adm. Michael Manazir, Director of Air Warfare, told Military​.com in an interview. The Navy will test the automated landing software system at sea following a string of recent successful land-based tests at Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md.

The software is called Magic Carpet, an acronym for Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies. The technology is slated to deploy by 2019 on F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and E/A-18G Growler electronic jamming aircraft. It is designed to make landing on an aircraft carrier easier by maintaining a commanded glideslope and angle of attack, giving the pilot the opportunity to focus more attention on maintaining a proper line-up, a Navy statement said.

“A pilot can take symbology on the HUD (heads up display) and he can move it to a symbol or a place on the flight deck and let go of the controls. The airplane knows with that symbol that is where I want to land. It will continually land on that spot,” Manazir explained. The software helps the approaching aircraft lock in on the correct landing approach, removing the need for the pilot to continuously adjust the aircraft. Landing on a carrier requires the pilot to account for the aircraft’s speed, the speed of the ship along with wind and weather considerations. Pilots seek to maintain the proper glide slope as they approach the carrier deck.

“When we land an aircraft on an aircraft carrier, it is kind of a three connection thing. You see the deviation, you correct, you re-correct and then you correct one more time as you go so there you are kind of chasing the parameters,” Manazir said. “With magic carpet, the pilot can move the stick and move reference point and the stick does not have to re-correct. That is where the airplane is going to go. It is control law software – and it actually moves the flight control surfaces to make that work — to where the aircraft is going to go. It is not just symbology,” Manazir said.

Navy test pilot Lt. Brent Robinson said the recent land-based flight and landing of Magic Carpet showed the technology could perform as was demonstrated in simulations. “With the initial set of flights, we were able to confirm that these new flight control laws performed very much in line with our predictions from the simulators,” said Robinson, a Magic Carpet project officer. “The initial airborne response characteristics observed in both Path and Rate modes with both Full and Half flaps are very encouraging. (Might this lead to "flaperon" controls for the F-18s??)

The flight control algorithms for Magic Carpet were developed by Naval Air Systems Command and the Office of Naval Research. If Magic Carpet becomes widely used throughout the Navy and emerges as a new standard for landing aircraft on carriers, pilots could then use more of their valuable training time working on weapons systems and other key avionics issues instead of practicing as much on how to land the plane on a carrier, Navy officials said.

Seems like this is lead by a visual selection/indication (reference) by the pilot; where as JPALS uses differential GPS to place the tailhook, any thoughts for discussion??


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by spazsinbad » 25 Apr 2015, 19:27

Perhaps reviewing what has been artickled and what was discussed recently in this thread would be helpful. Think of it this way: MAGIC CARPET and Delta Flight Path are one and the same in effect for the Super Hornet and F-35C (and enabled in the other two to be used as required - ashore) respectively. JPALS is a different system that will be used by both aircraft to enable auto landings down to manual landings as required. JPALS will be used some hundreds of miles from the ship - all the way down to arrest as the JPALS becomes more and more accurate - whereas MC/DFP is used only 'in the groove' on approach to arrest. However as in the case of the F-35A/B doing conventional landings ashore then the SH/Cee can use the same there also.

This WARWICK quote from above article is noteworthy:
"...The new glideslope-holding flightcontrol law is called Delta Path. Magic Carpet also includes a “Rate” mode, which holds flightpath command and not glideslope. This is for use in the pattern and holds bank angle and pitch attitude in the turn to intercept the glideslope...."

Whilst this answers the SHornet FLAP question from same source:
".... ...In Magic Carpet, gains and settings in the digital flight-control computer are fine-tuned to hold angle of attack tightly while longitudinal and lateral stick inputs are decoupled. “The primary factor in glideslope is longitudinal stick and in lineup it is lateral stick,” he says.

The control system melds aileron, stabilator and rudder control to maintain attitude. Then the flaps are raised a few degrees from their nominal half or fully deployed position. This gives the control system a few degrees of flap movement to use for direct lift control. [DLC]

“With aft stick, the flaps lower slightly to increase lift, the stabilator balances pitch, and I get almost pure vertical movement because angle of attack is being held for me. Near-pure lift increase or decrease gives me very high-fidelity control over glideslope,” Robinson says...." [THE HEAVE EFFECT used by F-35C also in wot is called IDLC Integrated DLC]

BACK in this thread would be this article: viewtopic.php?f=57&t=15767&p=280314&hilit=Tegler#p280314 ORIGINAL INPUT: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20155&p=249976&hilit=Tegler#p249976
F-35C Integrated Direct Lift Control: How It Works IDLC will make carrier approaches easier
09 Oct 2012 Eric Tegler

"...In a few years the F-35C’s flight control system will pair with the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) to enable data-linked approaches controlled from the carrier. IDLC will take relevant incoming data from the flight control computer and aid in making the process that much more precise.

With its larger wing and flaps and control harmony, the F-35C benefits more from IDLC than its sister variants. But they too enjoy more precise approach control with the system, Buus maintains. And he adds that it could [WILL with MAGIC CARPET] be integrated into legacy aircraft such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler...."

Source: http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stor ... -it-works/


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by spazsinbad » 25 Apr 2015, 21:20

The VENERABLE 'HOOVER' S-3 VIKING in a calm sea state gets down nicely as if on AUTO



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by spazsinbad » 27 Apr 2015, 08:05

IF not on this thread but others there was discussion about BINGO fuel and 'why does a carrier aircraft try to land at MCLW Maximum Carrier Landing Weight OR go here for RCLW = Required Carrier Landing Weight:

viewtopic.php?f=54&t=24111&p=253669&hilit=RCLW#p253669

Anyhoo this story from APPROACH - USN Safety Magazine is a great illustration of the mental/whatever else gymnastics required for getting back with the MAX fuel - OR NOT! :doh:
That Nagging Feeling
Nov-Dec 2014 APPROACH Mag'n LT KORY KEYMER VFA-15

"It was a sunny afternoon in the Gulf of Oman, with a hint of clouds on the horizon. The USS George H. W. Bush was on her second month of the long, 9-month deployment, and I was just starting to get used to flight operations in our new AOR.

We thoroughly briefed a 1.5-hour day launch and night recovery, and everything went as planned – until the return home. After the mission portion of the flight, I fenced out, came back and checked in with strike and marshal. They gave standard instructions for a normal CV 1 approach.

Once I commenced, I completed my habit pattern of adjusting gross weight to arrive at max trap on the ball. I dumped my extra fuel and reset the bingo bug to briefed tank state. Passing through 5,000 feet, marshal told me to switch to approach button 17. I checked in with approach, and they passed, “99 MOVLAS, Hornets half flaps, 33K.”

This was completely unexpected. Per the brief, it was supposed to be a normal case 3 recovery. At this point, I reached down and turned my dumps on to adjust the last 1,000 pounds required to reach the 33K fuel state. CATCC then said, “303, turn right 130.”

Another change! Every other time I’d executed the CV 1, it had been a standard, self-contained approach. To respond to the call, I took my hand off the dump switch to actuate the comm switch and then executed my right hand turn to 130. I continued to fly the aircraft by CATCC’s vectors to get to final bearing. As I was executing my turn to arrive on final bearing, things started to settle down. I returned to my normal habit patterns around the boat.

Something nagged at the back of my brain. I knew I’d forgotten something but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Suddenly it dawned on me: fuel! I looked at my fuel gauge, and to my dismay found that I was only 500 pounds above tank state. I had taken my hand off the dump switch without resetting my bingo bug.

I turned off the dumps and assessed what my fuel state would be on the ball. Even if I held off on dropping the landing gear as long as possible, I would be just above tank state when I called the ball. Using my best radio voice, I called CATTC: “Approach, 303 is going to be tank on the ball.” This wasn’t what they were expecting, since just 5-10 minutes earlier I updated my fuel state well above tank. I sat there waiting for a response for what seemed like an eternity, knowing that everyone on board knew that I had screwed up. I was sure that all of the big wigs in CATCC were discussing what to do with me.

After a minute or so, I got heard the dreaded call: “303, clean up, take angels 2. Your signal is tank.” After my earlier mistake, I wasn’t going to screw up twice. I set the bingo bug to 3,000 pounds, which was the fuel required to execute a minimum-fuel profile to land at the nearest divert field with the minimum fuel state required by SOP.

Upon joining on my tanker, I realized that my night was nowhere near over. I got into the pre-contact position and found the refueling basket bouncing all over the place. The clouds on the horizon had moved in, and the same weather conditions that drove the boat into a MOVLAS approach were wreaking havoc on the basket. This would be a challenging plug under any conditions, but I had just made an idiot mistake and I knew it. Worse yet, I knew that everyone on board the ship knew it too. I was angry about getting into this situation, so I found myself recklessly stabbing at the basket. I jousted with the basket for what felt like 20 minutes to no avail. I looked down at my fuel (3,200 pounds) and realized I had maybe two more shots at getting in the basket before I had to divert.

It took everything I had to forget about what all of my friends were going to say and focus on nothing but getting into the basket. I pulled back into the pre-contact position and sat there for 10 seconds or so, wiggling my fingers and toes, releasing my anger, tension, worry, and shame. Once I had forgotten everything except for the task at hand, it became much easier. I got into the basket on my next try, with just 100 pounds above bingo fuel. Once I received enough gas to put me back at max trap on the ball, I got out of the basket and contacted CATTC to let them know I was tanking complete.

My night was still only half over. I had to come back and land on the carrier at night. Nothing had changed. It was still a MOVLAS recovery at night to a pitching deck. The only thing I had going for me was the valuable tool I had just practiced: compartmentalization. I forgot about everything else and told myself nothing else in the world mattered except flying the ball. I made my final radio call, thinking of nothing else except the next 15-18 seconds of my life; “303, Hornet ball, 4.8.” After recovering back aboard, I had to compartmentalize one more time. I had to face my ready room."

Source: http://www.public.navy.mil/comnavsafece ... ov-Dec.pdf (1.3Mb)
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by spazsinbad » 28 Apr 2015, 20:49

Some more on the MAGIC CARPET testing.... Original Story here: http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=86765
US Navy Tested the MAGIC CARPET Software to Assist F/A-18E/F/G Landing on Aircraft Carriers
28 Apr 2015 NavyRecognition

"...This underway marked the first use of the MAGIC CARPET technology on an aircraft carrier," said Lt. Cmdr. Dan Marzluff, assistant air operations officer. "This software greatly reduces misses and wave-offs, which translates into more time on-mission and makes us an overall more effective force."

MAGIC CARPET is software designed for F/A-18E/F/G aircraft that automatically adjusts the jet's speed and angle of attack in relation to the intended landing surface. Initial tests of the system took place in early February at Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md.

"The majority of flight operations with the system were touch-and-goes," said Marzluff. "We didn't have to actually land to determine how the software takes the aircraft to the flight deck."

Photo Caption: "ATLANTIC OCEAN (April 20, 2015) An F/A-18E Super Hornet attached to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 lands on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). George H.W. Bush is conducting training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Christopher D. Gaines/Released)" http://www.navyrecognition.com/images/s ... _VX_23.JPG


Source: http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.ph ... riers.html
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by spazsinbad » 10 May 2015, 19:45

First sea trials completed for MAGIC CARPET
07 May 2015 NAWCAD Public Affairs

"NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division engineers and test pilots successfully completed the first at-sea testing of the newly-developed F/A-18 flight control software on USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) April 20.

The Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies, or MAGIC CARPET, is designed to make landing on an aircraft carrier easier by incorporating direct lift control, an augmented pilot control mode that maintains a commanded glideslope, and improvements to heads-up display symbology tailored for the shipboard landing task.

Navy test pilot Lt. Brent Robinson hit the two wire as planned when he landed “Salty Dog 100,” an F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23.

“This was a huge technology milestone in the history of carrier landings,” said Robinson, MAGIC CARPET project officer. “What we saw at sea was essentially the same as the land-based testing we did at [Naval Air Station Patuxent River]. We are still analyzing the data, but from the [landing signal officer’s] position, the landings looked very good.”

NAWCAD engineers and VX-23 test pilots specifically used the two wire for testing because unlike most Nimitz-class carriers, CVN 77 has 3 arresting gear wires and aiming for the number 2 wire is standard operating procedure.

The flight test team, which included engineers from NAWCAD, the Atlantic Test Ranges, and industry partner Boeing, executed more than 180 touch-and-go landings with 16 arrested landings in the advanced control modes during three days of testing. The two F/A-18F test aircraft were flown in both nominal and off-nominal approaches and in varying wind conditions.

The engineering group responsible for developing the flight control software, new heads-up displays, and simulators was encouraged by the sea trials.

“This initial sea trial confirmed that carrier landings can be achieved at lower pilot workload while maintaining or reducing current touchdown dispersions performance,” said James “Buddy” Denham, a senior engineer in the aeromechanics division at NAVAIR. ”The results from this test clearly show the benefits we expected to achieve with this level of flight control augmentation. The data we have now collected in both the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the F-35C Lightning II in the Delta Flight Path mode show that the Navy’s fleet of tactical aircraft, to include the EA-18G Growler, is well on its way with a safer, more predictable method of accomplishing the unique naval aviation task of shipboard landings.”

According to Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Radocaj, carrier suitability testing department head at VX-23, MAGIC CARPET reduces touchdown dispersion, which refers to the repeatability of aircrafts' tailhooks to land in approximately the same spot on the carrier deck, and improves the overall success rate for carrier landings.

As an added benefit, MAGIC CARPET can help to minimize hard landings, reduce the number of required post-hard landing aircraft inspections, and improve overall aircraft availability. The results from this initial round of testing give good confidence that MAGIC CARPET can provide substantial benefits to reduce initial and currency training for pilots and lower the costs of Naval Aviation, said Radocaj.

Test pilots, engineers, and landing signal officers (LSO) from VX-23 will continue to test MAGIC CARPET demonstration software on F/A-18E/F aircraft for the remainder of 2015 and early 2016. Production-level software for the Fleet is scheduled to start flight testing in 2017, with general fleet introduction to follow via the F/A-18 and EA-18G program office."

PHOTO CAPTION: “Salty Dog 100,” an F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., lands on USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) Apr. 20, 2015. The landing was part of the first sea trials for MAGIC CARPET, new flight control software and display symbology for F/A-18 aircraft designed to make carrier landings less demanding for Navy pilots." http://www.navair.navy.mil/img/uploads/ ... 7-crop.jpg


Source: http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fu ... ry&id=5904
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by spazsinbad » 16 May 2015, 09:48

:mrgreen: ONLY for the inna GEEKS for sure :devil: (mostly a woman talking so do not listen if youse have a problem) :doh:
Aircraft Carrier Communications - Military Aviation Scanner Audio
Uploaded on Jan 5, 2012 pdgls

"A collection of several recordings of carriers off the southern California coast when ducting propagation was in effect. Jets close to the carrier but above the duct were not heard or very weak. When recording one of them i was also watching a movie on the computer and a little of that can be heard. "Link engaged" and "switched channel" came from a audio feed i was using at the time. The main focus was to record passes where the pilots needed some help from the LSOs at night. Most of the passes had few or no calls from the LSOs other than the "roger ball". Most of these passes were cut out in the edit."

FROM elsewhere:
"Several clear and unique traffic calls after about 1hour:47mins:25secs such as advising when a qual had been completed. Some are two separate combined into one call - one right after the other."




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by spazsinbad » 18 May 2015, 01:35

More CARPET (never mind the quality - feel the width) of the MAGIC kind VIDEO explanation: NOW ON YOUTUBE - see below

It is interesting to me that the transcript of the explanations in the video is NOT entirely accurate - I'll add some important words in square brackets that I think are necessary.
TRANSCRIPT: http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fu ... 18A15E6C76 (magic carpet script_final.doc 26Kb)
NAVAIR Home | NAVAIR News | Flight Ready Video Gallery
Flight Ready: Magic Carpet

14 May 2015 NAVAIR

"MAGIC CARPET, which stands for Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies, is a new technology designed to lift the stress off of naval pilots who have to land on carriers. Watch to learn more about this control system that will reduce the pilot's workload and make carrier landings easier and safer."

NAVAIR Flight Ready: Magic Carpet
"The broader idea of MAGIC CARPET [Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies] is simply to make landing at the ship easier; to make it repeatable, to make it safer and just in general less work or easier for the pilots to do a very difficult task, to do that repeatedly.

Magic carpet is kind of a two-part program; it is a change to the flight controls on the Super Hornet so it adds direct lift control and then the other part is the HUD symbology, it gives us some ships cueing that makes it easier to land on the boat.

What we are doing differently here is we are really providing the pilot direct control of what he is trying to do which is to control the flight path; so the flight control computer is controlling and closing the loops around flight path, which is important for landing on the carrier and is something we don’t do today.

As you are trying to land on the boat, the boat is moving away from you, [AND TO THE] right, so you have to continuously chase after the boat to get to it. All of the symbology we have right now in the HUD, or in our heads up display, is kind of in reference to the actual airplane, so what is the airplane doing? Well, this new HUD symbology, you actually input the speed of the boat and it takes into account the winds, so now, it accounts for that movement of the boat, so I don't have to worry about that, so I don't have to lead, I don't have to have that experience to figure out what is the boat doing, I just put the velocity vector now in the landing area of the boat and that is exactly where the airplane goes because it already compensates for the movement of the boat.

It is going to reduce the workload so we can focus on maintaining the proper glide slope and proper approach so we don’t get too low and we don’t get too high and it will be easier for day and night and we can take that reduction in workload and stress overall throughout the flight and maybe apply that to other areas, to tactics or whatever. So they can focus more on that and make the ship landing a more administrative task.

It definitely makes it a lot safer. I flew about 30 touch and gos in a 2-hour period, and I don’t think I would have had the mental capacity to be able to do that safely if it wasn’t for this technology. And I think that is just going to make it safer when guys are coming back from long missions, six to seven hours over Iraq or Afghanistan or whatever and they come back to the boat, and they are tired and exhausted and this is just going to make it a no-brainer to land at the boat.

Another perspective is from the LSO perspective, the landing signal officer, the guys on the ship that are helping the planes land, safety is their number one concern, so (cut) the LSO knows, that the jet hopefully the throttle is linked up and the altitude of the jet is constant, so he is not worried as much about the new pilot, (cut) pulling the throttles back to idle and possible crashing into the back of the ship.

So to date, we are really getting very good correlation with our simulation results to what we are seeing in the airplane, so in terms of lowering the pilots workload, in terms of performance on the flight path, holding and controlling the meatball for landing is all there.

So the overall result has been much more repeatable, much more consistent between pilots even with different techniques and that is the goal with taking this to the fleet between new guys and very old Salty guys that have been around for 25-30 years, the deviations that you should expect are now going to be much smaller across the board.

It is awesome to be able to be in one of the first landings in Magic Carpet to experience this technology, and you know, I just want to tell everyone in the fleet that it is awesome and the first time anyone gets to fly it they are going to be like, “this is wow, this is what I want, this is what I need.”"

Source: http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fu ... 18A15E6C76 [magic carpet script_final.doc (26Kb) ]


VIDEO:
http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fu ... 4EAADC623C



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by spazsinbad » 21 May 2015, 14:48

Now I know where I went RONG - I didna doo enough mathematicks in me head goldarnit? Wait WOT?
DoD Lab Day Celebrates Innovation At All Levels
21 May 2015 Megan Eckstein

"...Magic Carpet
NAVAIR senior engineer Buddy Denham said Magic Carpet creates two advantages for pilots trying to land on an aircraft carrier.

First, it turns control of the plane’s throttle and angle of attack over to flight control computers, allowing the pilot to focus on the glidepath instead of thinking about metrics like engine revolutions per minute.

“When he’s trying to do lineup and is banking left and right to line up, that will cause the airplane to settle today, and he has to get back into what he was happy with, the flightpath,” Denham said. “Now [with Magic Carpet], he’s not having to do the gymnastics and mathematics in his head.” [Oh NOES!] :mrgreen:

Second, it provides an enhanced heads-up display (HUD) symbology that gives direct feedback on the flightpath corrections, taking the guesswork out of trying to land on a carrier. [There is no guesswork darlin' otherwise - just different when oldeschule]

Denham said NAVAIR installed the two software changes into Super Hornets aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) and performed 200 landings from April 20 to 22. The tests showed the pilots performed better with the system, having better control over where their tailhooks hit with less work during approach.

The Bush testing was the phase 1 proof of concept demonstration, he said. The second phase, expected next year, will bring the system out to the fleet and conduct degraded mode testing and other software tests. Denham said he hopes to field the system by 2018. He said the Magic Carpet software would go on Super Hornets, and the Navy is working with Lockheed Martin to incorporate it into the F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter."

Source: http://news.usni.org/2015/05/21/dod-lab ... all-levels


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