How to Land on an Aircraft Carrier 

Quick tip Hornet tip. When you drop the flaps, the FCS automatically drives the aircraft to 4 units of AoA so keep the power off until the jet settles or you will get a big upward pitch of the nose. The trim switch trims at 2 deg/sec with the flaps down, so if you drop the flaps, then hold "2 Mississippi" worth of nose up trim, it will get you "on speed" or close to it in short order. Be careful though. If you are fast, say 180kts or greater, the trim input will pitch the nose up as the system tries to establish 8 units of AoA. I usually try and do all of this in the break turn and let the FCS pull me through the turn as it drives up the AoA. Finally, if you are using the ICLS needles as a reference, remember that the FLOLS is set for a 3.5 deg glide slope, and the ICLS is set for a 3.0 deg glideslope. If you fly the needles all the way to the deck you will have a very low ball. ICLS is a great reference at the 90, but you need to transition to the ball as soon as you roll out in the groove. Question for Waggs. Can you disable the ball tool?

The best thing about Wags is his voice. Just soothing. Almost as good as listening to the Blue Angels during a performance!

That meatball overlay is such a nice addition for VR players. Well done ED

At first i thought the supercarrier was just a quick way for ed to make a bit of cash. I was wrong, seeing the new comms, the ground crew and all that has shown me that a lot of work has gone in to this and it looks great. Good job!

finally, some actual ATC work!

Absolutely excited for this! Spent a good part of the 00's on carriers attached to an F-18 squadron. Watching the deck crew meander about brings back some good memories!

Love the IFLOLS readout tool, VR users rejoice!

Excellent explanation, glad you’ve got the (DCS) experts, Jar and the Stingers onboard! looking forward to more.

Fantastic video, Wags! The time and effort you put in to trying to make DCS more understandable some folks who may be getting into realistic flight some is phenomenal. Your channel is literally the only bell icon I've ever clicked on. We can tell you're passionate about what you do.

Kudos to Naval Aviators ! It still amazes me how they do this day or night and in rough weather. Great tutorial to better understanding all that is involved landing an aircraft on a carrier. Great video!

Hi Matt, I have never followed the release of a DCS Module this closely before. - Very happy I participated in the pre-purchase. Fingers crossed that the next update brings a lot of big smiles! : )

This is how tutorials should be. I really struggle to follow verbally so the graphics and explanation in that style was a big help. I finally understand what I've been doing wrong.

Looking forward to hearing "Tomcat ball"

Wags, you're a star. I'm new to all this, and it's blooming hard work but definitely worth persevering! Your tutorials are a blessing Sir!! :-)

Definitely the most realistic and immersive carrier ops in virtual aviation history!😎👌

Thank you so much for this Jar and Wags. Can't wait for CASE III to see that beauty at night!

The F18C and CARRIER Ops are the 1st 2 DLC I have purchased in my entry into the DCS world and these videos are very helpful to a noob like me with his hands and brain full of all kinds of new information after coming from IL2 in VR. Finally upgraded my PC to handle DCS in VR so hopefully I'll figure it all out soon enough. Thanks for so much continued support with all of your how to videos!!!!

I've been practicing my case 1 landings, getting ready for release day! Thanks for the previews!

This is a great video to not only show us the the new carrier and features, but also how to perform landings in general, utilizing these new features - great stuff and very much appreciated - keep these coming!

Best way you can possibly present a Case I Recovery on a supercarrier, simple and good explained.

Can't wait for this baby to be released! Great video Wags, as always

Wags..... you are so smooth and calm with it brother. As always thanks for sharing

Superb tutorial, I needed a complete breakdown of the procedures as I have been doing it all wrong, thank you so much team ED.

I've never been so excited for a DLC 😀

The Ball tool is awesome! Great Idea!

The wake of the waves are so freaking realistic!!

Oh yes, virtual meatball. Thank you so much that will help immensely in VR.

this is actually a great tutorial for carrier landings in general

I've been looking for a video like this for a while. THANK YOU!

Matt this is by far the best demonstration I've ever seen! Even more than my flight school, I'm very new on here mth maybe? I'm also struggling with my new computer as well as Dcs world (bugs) in each, not to mention lots of pilot error & all that's involved in the beginning process! That being said, I'm having a blast & have such respect for the men, women who actually do this on a daily basis! Amazing. I watched for a mth before I broke down & decided to join y'all, I also didn't realize the expense either but after last yr craziness, not being able to actually fly this was a no brainier! I purchased The F5 1st mistake it's more advanced For me and harder for me to fly? So I got the F/A 18 and for whatever reason I fly this better? I don't get that either, but I'm getting better everyday and watching these are really helping so thanks to you Matt, Jar, spudknocker for one on one, Cap & the boys & please y'all keep these videos coming for us beginners and with time, practice I'll eventually get to play in a campaign and really enjoying this sim!

10:38, remember the most important thing, the meowing cat

Great work to JAR & Matt! GREAT COLLABORATION! 👍🤘🏻

Talk about making it look easy :D Thanks for a nice totorial. Having done quite a few traps recently but it's really nice to have a video to refference.

Awesome video thanks Wags!

You make that look super easy!

Impressive, textbook demonstration.

Thank you. Can't wait for this to release.

My desktop isn't powerful enough for the Supercarrier update so I plugged my Oculus Rift S to my Alienware 15 and took off, chased a few F/A-18Cs to escort them over land and then turned back to give it a go on landing on the carrier. My first attempt trying to land in VR and I think I killed a lot of deck crew. Either way, the immersion is something else and I absolutely love this experience. Thanks Matt and the rest of the ED team for this module.

Great video, I can't wait for the super carrier.

Very cool! Cannot wait for this!!

Thanks for the details, gonna remember like 25% of them. After watching a couple of Hornet videos on landing, i went from slamming the gears/hook onto the deck (bolting) to capturing the wire most of the time. Didn't even know you can put the meatball up on the hut like that, thought i had to zoom in and see it on the carrier, which is impossible in VR right now.

BZ Thank you sir, looking forward to this module. I hope you and yours are well.

Really pleased to see the FLOS tool.

Great video, nice graphics by Jar.

You must have been an Flight Instructor in your other life. Smooth as Butter

So awesome!

I hope I see wags in a stinger landing video! This was really good, answered a lot of questions for me, thanks

Today is Jan 22 2023 and I got the Super Carrier module a week ago and the Hornet a week before that. So it's been a crash course (no pun intended) to get both under my fingers. I figured out the carrier pretty quick. The Hornet was a little tougher but I am getting it. I have done takeoff's and pattern work, no landings up until today. I just did my first landing without exploding. It wasn't a pretty one, but no death or damage. The previous attempts were too short, too long, too fast, too slow...and when you get the perfect one...done. Now I can unpucker my backside and relax. Just fine tunin' from here on out. Then night ops, then night ops in rain/heavy seas...

What we really need is a pushback feature post-mission to park in tight spots on the deck!

Very awesome tutorial! Thank you.

Now that was interesting... First time through some of the details.

Wow...this looks sooo cool!

very nice module...Worth the money.

That looks very fantastic! I've just compared this video with the Jane's F/A-18 released in the year 2000. What a giant step in 20 years of flightsim evolution! 20 years ago I've never ever thought to see/feel such realism on my monitor... BTW: I've found a Mr. "Matt Wagner" in the credits section of the printed Superhornet manual :D

I love JAR's work...keep it up bud!

Very informative, thanks 👍🏻 that’s a lot to take in!

Great video! Gave me enough hints to maybe finally manage CASE I landings consistently :-)

I absolutely love that ball tool for landing. I could never make out on my monitor the actual ball so I simply flew to the crotch every time. Was able to easily do it but I wanted that extra bit of realism. Looking forward to this addition as I will then be able to fly the ball. LOL I couldn't even call the ball until I was on serious short final, just about to touch down.

He made it look so easy. I wish it was that easy for me.

Right wags i've just spent $157,44 converted from south african rands in a really bad economical state,its half my paycheck almost. bought the F-18 / F-16 / huey / Persian gulf / combat in arms / and the one i really hope comes soon the super carrier. thanks for all the discount codes and miles

I was just about to head to bed....thanks Wags ;)

Thank you, i have been trying to land my F35 on a carrier and this tutorial helped me a lot

Fantastic video, Wags.

Thank you for that beautifull and so usefull video, Matt... And Congrats for your final alignement on the meatball : So Chic !.... :-) From Brussels, with Love...

BEAUTIFUL

Best tutorial of internet bro. Keep strong

Nice video, keep up the good work

I served in the U.S. Navy on aircraft carriers. This is awesome!

A nicely succinct explanation. If only the in-game training missions were like that.

Great tutorial.

Damn, that was a work of art !!

Hahaha, I love how JAR sneaked in that perfect centerline landing at the end that Wags didn't quite pull off that flawlessly. :D

Also was nice hearing jellos voice!

This is phenomenal

Nice work Matt, I hope more to come.

Yeah, I would have replayed the hell out of the trap! Nice flying.

As someone who came here thanks to their adhd.. this seems SOOOO complex... DCS is WAAAAY more realistic than I thought it was from pervious DCS videos i've seen. Crazy stuff. You can REALLY get into the technical weeds here

That was great, very informative…!!

Please tell me I’m not the only one who wouldn’t be this practical and realistic in a server everytime. I’d try my best but I’m 14 and not sure I could memorize it

Great visuals at the start and thank god you talked about the ATC comms, I didn’t find anything about ‚marking moms’ or anything else on the internet so I was kinda panicking :D Thanks a lot wags, looking forward to the carrier!

Thanks so much for the info.

very cool! thanks for the vid wags!

You make that look to easy!

You made that look easy:)

Great explanation and visuals Jar

great matt

Nice instruction, thank you.

Some critiques. 1. Final Bearing of the angled deck is NOT BRC -10 deg, it's BRC -8 deg. 2. On the downwind leg, after the break turn, you wanna be at 600' AGL, and 1.2-1.3 nm offset from TCN, no more. If you are 1.4 or 1.5, you will be VERY FAR WIDE. 3. Also, on the approach turn, when you can see the 'rounddown' start the turn approx 27 deg. 4. The arrival point shouldn't be 0.6nm, it should be more 0.8 nm, and about 350-380' AGL. 5. Look to cross the wake (BRC, as TACAN line comes across the V/V at 45 deg angle) around 380' AGL. This'll set you up for a good start. Still overall, great video. It's great to see the legacy of us Hornet nerds continue in a great sim like DCS. Did you get that idea for the IFLOLS gauge from the FSX Sludge Hornet? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-a9xPbqczLqw.html Later

I think the most remarkable thing in this video was that he was able to taxi off the landing area without sliding around the deck! Can't wait.

nice work !go!

Wow, that was alot of info. really awesome.

Bruh. The roosevelt was my ship. Super cool seeing it used here

Hi Wags, great video and to see more content on the supercarrier. With all due respect i have some constructive criticism to the video. I think the intro misses two crucial informations in the description to make the CASE I Pattern really work: 1. Carrier setup Carrier has to have a relative head wind of 25-30 kts above the deck to make the geometry and timing of the pattern work. If the carrier is to slow you will always end up to close, to high and offset to the right of the centerline if you hit all checkpoints. If the carrier is to fast its always to far, to low and offset to the left. 2. Landing weight The F/A-18 has to be down to the maximum allowed carrier deck landing weight. I see many people on MP training servers attempt CASE I patterns with Hornets that are well overweight. The result is that the onspeed IAS is higher than what works properly for the CASE I pattern. The baseturn diameter is to wide and the groove will be to short due to the higher IAS at higher weight. On the other side the intro contains information that IMHO will only confuse people especially those just learning the carrier landings. In the F/A-18 with its nice AoA indicator and E-bracket, i do not need to know my pitch angle in relation to the horizon. If i put the flight director on the carrier, the plane is flying onspeed and if i matched the checks, i should immediatly be able to get an idea of my glide slope by either looking at the ball or just referencing to see if the FD is roughly at the -3° mark. No need to check if the nose it pointed at +5°. Keep up the good work. Best regards

Makes it look easy....makes me break a sweat and raise my heart rate.....

It's looking better each time we see it, but there's some bad gouge in the video for those that want to fly the pattern correctly: 1) In DCS since the Hornet on-speed is about 10 knots slower than the actual airplane, you'll need to tighten up the abeam distance a bit in order to fly a proper 27-30 degree AOB approach turn. IRL they use 1.3-1.4nm, for DCS 1.1-1.2nm is the sweet spot. 2) You start your approach turn just a bit aft of the LSO platform when you can see the white of the round down. This does have some variation depending on how much natural wind there is. 3) For Case 1 recoveries you should not be targeting a DME value (like 0.6 miles shown), you should be targeting a groove time of 15-18 seconds. A properly performed approach turn starting at the white of the round down will give you the desired 15-18 seconds.

can't wait, specially now, since we cannot even use the good ole Stennis in MP at the moment.....

VERY helpful ...thanks

Very concise video. TY for your time. Have to say, learning to pat head, rub belly, yell at kids, answer teams call, open sliding glass door for dogs/cats, fix track IR, unf*ck random issues IRL and in game in a windows eco system...is certainly is a labor of love, or obsession...most likely the latter. Cheers!

Alright I have my post-it notes all lined up across the bottom of my monitor, let's give this a shot

This is going to be an amazing module! It's going to change the world of aviation simulation!