That gives you the hazard of right-to-left drift on touchdown, with a very real danger of the aircraft going over the left side of the deck, even if the hook has caught a wire. So he has to crab the aircraft all the way to touchdown. On the other hand, the pilot on final approach has to line up on a centerline that's wandering off to his right. Setting the landing area at an angle (10-12°) to the ship's axis allows for low wave-offs and bolters without plowing into aircraft and crew on the forward part of the flight deck, like they used to back in the day. A brilliant WWII era invention, originally British, though it took the U.S. The carrier's rescue helicopter, which hovers off the starboard (that's "right" to landlubbers) side of the ship during all launch and landing (recovery) operations. See? You just had a life-changing insight, right? Now, make it stick – hear the tune: Now hear this: they're not going away, they're not going anywhere! It's not "Anchors away", it's Anchors AWEIGH! That is, we're weighing anchor, meaning we're pulling the anchor up. But the real reason: I know you've been wondering forever about why these anchors are going away. Sure, we love this old Navy ceremonial march, but what's it doing here? First of all, it's the tune every Navy man (and others) hears whenever the ship leaves home port, so it's a part of every cruise. Getting all those aircraft " rendezvous'ed" and on their way to the target is always a minor miracle. Then they meet the carrier for another cruise, and become one happy air wing again, under a new CAG.Ī major, supposedly coordinated, air-to-ground strike, involving much of the air wing (see above), perhaps 50 aircraft or more. For the next half year or more, the squadrons operate more or less independently, fiddling with paperwork, until the time comes to go to sea again. At the end of the cruise the carrier goes to the yard to be glued back together, while the air wing squadrons may scatter to several airfields. The air wing is under the command of " CAG" (once "Commander, Air Group" – but now "Commander, Air Wing" but still "CAG") – a senior Commander, and joins the carrier for the duration of a cruise. The aviation squadrons and aircraft aboard a carrier (except for the rescue helos). But to be fair, the Air Boss will just as quickly praise extraordinary professionalism with an " Attaboy". He believes – rightly – that humiliation is a great teacher, so as you (the pilot) cross the flight deck after you've landed following some airborne flub, you (and everyone else on the deck) are likely to hear some choice words over said loudspeakers referring to your aviation skills. During flight operations the Air Boss is located in the tower in the carrier's " island," and runs flight ops in the immediate vicinity of the carrier, where his word is law. The Commander in charge of the carrier's flight pattern and flight deck. For example, "Sweetheart, has your aft section spread just a bit lately?" Or, adverbially, toward the back of anything. A pilot had best not use this system all the time, or he'll be rusty at the skill he will need when the system fails : the very tricky job of manually bringing the aircraft aboard the carrier. The pilot could be hands-off all the way to landing, but you bet he keeps his hands on the controls to override them if needed. "All-weather Carrier Landing System." A system that uses automated radio inputs from the ship to control the stick and throttle on an aircraft's final approach to a carrier landing. As in, "Damn, honey! That idiot who cut us off is abeam to port. The car that's doorhandle to doorhandle with you on the freeway is abeam. In Navy talk, adjacent to, not fore or aft, but toward your 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock. As in, "Honey, is that a police car abaft?" Naval Air types : To suggest additions or revisions to this collection send me a note.Īround "The Boat": A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AbaftĮven farther aft than aft. "Viking" Lillebo's Annotated Guide Toįor another thorough resource on this –ahem– important subject,Ĭheck out the Tailhook Association's page at.
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