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I thought that Lukla Airport in Nepal was the most difficult...
That was interesting. Would be fun in the cockpit-not so much in the rear.
It's one thing to land a light plane on a tight strip, another to wiggle an airliner between mountain tops then dive and turn for the runway. I know a little about landing in confined areas, but I was a helicopter pilot in the days. we had the added excitement of bullets.
Navy guy gets the trophy, but it's all hairy.
It's one thing to land a light plane on a tight strip, another to wiggle an airliner between mountain tops then dive and turn for the runway. I know a little about landing in confined areas, but I was a helicopter pilot in the days. we had the added excitement of bullets.
Navy guy gets the trophy, but it's all hairy.
Naaah! Trust me on this one. The most difficult landing in the world is aboard USS Boat on a dark and stormy night with low ceiling and vis, no ACLS/no APC/no needles, a rough/rolling sea and a pitching deck. The landing area is only a couple hundred feet (plus or minus) with limited illumination which in such weather conditions you can't make out until a half mile or less on final. I'm talking lots of water, deep water, with a sudden drop off (90 degree steel wall) on both ends of this very short runway, albeit with 4 cables to snag with a tailhook. You're down to bingo/land-base-divert fuel, if applicable, and some of your mates have already boltered twice (failed to catch a wire) and been sent to the overhead tanker which they're having difficulty finding and rendezvousing with in the weather. Once visual, you have to fight the temptation to chase the "ball" (Fresnel Lens optical landing aid with limited gyro stabilization). You especially don't want to ease gun in close and correct too much (nose down) for a high ball condition with a pitching deck (hello hard/damaged landing) or add power and correct too much nose up for a low/red ball (hello bolter). Pick your poison.
Do ya think there might be just a little pucker factor involved here? And the pay? Ha! Even so, to my knowledge there's never been a shortage of volunteers and even the girls (an exceptional few) are doing it now in the latest tactical jet equipment.
For what its worth, this kind of approach and landing is not so exceptional during a carrier cruise and is something all naval aviators are equipped/trained to handle. I've landed at Kai Tak several times in years past, both directions, night and day, in the "Diesel Eight" in weather and crosswinds. Compared to this, it was a piece of cake.
I have no idea what all in the way of bells and whistles today's tactical jet naval aircraft possess but of one thing I'm certain. Sooner or later those techno-luster gadgets fail and you're reduced to the basics of scanning meatball, lineup, angle of attack, while applying corrections with stick, rudder and throttle. You're 100% in the loop. You become an extension of the machine or vice-versa unlike today's commercial machines in which by design the pilot has become more of a systems monitor flipping switches and pushing buttons to drive the machine than a hands-on in-the-loop driver. Some unnecessary fatal commercial accidents attest to that fact.
Do ya think there might be just a little pucker factor involved here? And the pay? Ha! Even so, to my knowledge there's never been a shortage of volunteers and even the girls (an exceptional few) are doing it now in the latest tactical jet equipment.
For what its worth, this kind of approach and landing is not so exceptional during a carrier cruise and is something all naval aviators are equipped/trained to handle. I've landed at Kai Tak several times in years past, both directions, night and day, in the "Diesel Eight" in weather and crosswinds. Compared to this, it was a piece of cake.
I have no idea what all in the way of bells and whistles today's tactical jet naval aircraft possess but of one thing I'm certain. Sooner or later those techno-luster gadgets fail and you're reduced to the basics of scanning meatball, lineup, angle of attack, while applying corrections with stick, rudder and throttle. You're 100% in the loop. You become an extension of the machine or vice-versa unlike today's commercial machines in which by design the pilot has become more of a systems monitor flipping switches and pushing buttons to drive the machine than a hands-on in-the-loop driver. Some unnecessary fatal commercial accidents attest to that fact.
Yup! I have hired some ex Navy carrier folks that threw in the towel after running low on fuel, bad weather, and several missed approaches. Real pucker power then.
I really was just wondering how long it was gonna take some ex-navy jock to weigh in here.lol Paul, I agree 100% on FLYING THE PLANE. While all the bells and whistles are nice and make life easier, they can lull one into complacency if you are not careful. Problem is, the bells and whistles are all some of these younger guys know and when they lose that stick and rudder basic, they are in trouble and those are usually the ones we read about.It is just simply amazing to know the cockpit of a 707 25 years ago and then climbing in a brand new 767 earlier this year, but in getting it off and on the ground, aerodynamics are still the same and for learning those, I am thankful.
MHTG is equally trilling/dreadful