What're They Doing? F/A-18 Pilot Breaks Down Carrier Landings

[beerforbreakfast]

Best air show I ever saw was way back in my navy days. Our Canadian destroyer was sailing guard ship on a US aircraft carrier. All day and night it was constant launch and recovery and it was absolutely amazing to see.

[nicolaisen]

These are great videos. The thorough explanation truly gives you a sense of what the pilot is going through.

[ahillery]

I've seen both of these great videos before but listening to the commentary you've added is so cool. Such a great additional perspective on these videos!

[tscott]

Watched this again after a while. This is a perfect example of great narrative and no music. Love it.

[MsTheCops]

Dang ...great commentary ...I subscribed. I'm an older VFR private pilot & you fighter pilots are my hero's. I never fail to be "wowed" by these video's.

[scarcatch]

In the second video the thumb movement at 9:03 was for uncaging the HUD and not ATC i think, watch the HUD repeater on the left DDI going from caged to uncaged.

[danrichardson]

Thanks all for the ride along. Enjoyed your observations.

[jameslesch]

One of the best carrier landing videos I have ever watched. Please do more of these informative vids. Well done!

[maddogjustu]

Superb explanation of action in the cockpit! Worked 23 1/2 years in Air Force Air Traffic Control facilities and many times early in my career had more than 15 to 20 fighters in the pattern at the same time conducting low approaches, touch and goes, and flop and stops!

[jgetscensored]

6:20

Hawk eye props always terrified me. That coming from somewhere behind you while you handled maintenance on your aircraft, followed by “props on the move”. You tend to get a lot skinnier, a lot shorter, and a lot closer to your aircraft until you turn and located the sound’s location.

[paulliuzzo]

Great commentary on the landings. I'm a former red shirt from the USS Kitty Hawk, your explanation of what all the different colors on the flight deck personnel was probably very informative to everyone who was not ever on a carrier. I have seen hundreds of carrier landings in person but it was great seeing it from the pilots perspective. Something you may not know is that we flight deck guys used to also grade the landings, unofficially of course, but just for our own amusement. BTW, when the redshirt gave the pilot the hands up signal, another red shirt was putting the safety pins back in the armament to electrically and mechanically prevent any ordinance from accidentally being fired on the deck.

[navybrit]

I love watching videos like this, it’s nice seeing the DDIs, HSIs, HUDs and other gear I fixed while in the Navy in use.

[flyrobroy]

Hey that's my buddy! NoPRO is a great dude and even better hornet pilot.

[matthewganote]

Seen these videos several times, but had no idea what I was missing. Love the commentary, very insightful, keep it up.

[michaelmappin]

Outstanding! Two comments, if you don't mind. The de-arm area pointing over the starboard side is absolute. Yellow shirts sometimes have to fight with the SAR bird in starboard delta to remain clear. Forward firing ordnance, especially in the case of AIM-9s, doesn't care if that bird is a friendly. The deck crew and flight deck control call the 6 pack, the area of the flight deck close to the foul line and between el1 and el2 where aircraft are parked with tails facing port. We don't have a 6 pack during recovery. The area up by the Belknap pole (nav pole, crunch pole) is the point. The deck edge between el1 and el2 is the corral. Aircraft parked to the right of cat1 (more forward of the point) are on the 1 row. Thanks for your excellent video breakdown.

[Ac]

Great videos! One question ive never seen addressed: why is it so bad to catch any of the other wires besides the 3? Do they all operate the same way? Does catching another wire cause any other issues besides landing at the wrong spot? Thanks

[RandalFmNZ]

What an awesome summary with a voice so calm and easy to follow. Very well done. Instructive and entertaining.

[reggiehowze]

I was 17 years old in 1974. My first ship.was the USS ORISKANY CV-34. Best time of my life. I worked I. Fly1 on flight deck

[Cowboy_Steve]

Awesome video! I remembered more than I thought lol. I used to spend hours on the Flag Bridge of the Saratoga (CV-60) watching flight ops (I worked in N2 for CCDG-8). Got busted by the Admiral himself sitting in the Admiral's chair on the bridge (Staffs didn't use the flag bridge in the late 80's). He got a kick out of how high I jumped out of the seat lol. That Admiral's name was Mike Boorda. Yeah... that Admiral Boorda. Thanks for the breakdown - enjoyed it! 🤠

[michaelhayes]

Keep’em coming, really enjoy these narration videos.