This great addon made me read and research a lot about how exactly carrier landings are done.  I use vlso so i'm under a lot of virtual pressure:)

 

I find myself having a hard time calculating the turn well, so i usually go further back and higher so that i have more time on final. It's really hard to control altitude during turn. 

 

This video says "meatball, lineup, aoa". There is a footage with the hud that doesn't show the tacan glideslope indicators. Did real pilots fly by it? For me it's a lot easier to see and follow than the meatball. 

 

 

Also, I find it a lot easier to land using the new hud, where everything I need is packed in the same place, whereas with the old hud I have to look up to check glideslope and AoA, and then down to see the vector and make sure it's pointing at the right spot. I use the stick to keep the bracket centered, and the throttle to kerp me on the glideslope. 

 

I'm probably developing bad habits so I'm all ears for some good advice. 

 

Ps: i get (OK)s about half of the time, and get waved off the other half. 

 

Thanks!

 

Dug out some of my old stuff, this may help you...

 

 

 

 

I use the ACLS needles in both the Tomcat and the VRS Super as an aid, not sure if it was used at the boat real world, but in other sections of aviation it's used as a nice back up for a VMC approach. The old HUD requires you to keep the waterline mark lined up with the "E" bracket. Even with the "B" HUD, it takes practice. My only other advice is trim and DLC. Loads of trim after going dirty, and I only engage DLC in the groove. I would not worry about your "time in groove" until you get the hang of it. The WIP service pack takes some of the roll out based on RW feedback, so essentially it's easier to control in the landing phase. Huge fan of vLSO as well and use it for every carrier capable aircraft in my FSX hangar, but you might change the settings to "Nugget" until you get the hang of it. Also, using the auto throttles can help as you practice, but I only engage this after I'm in the groove.

I got fairly OK at landing the F-14, but I have one recurring problem: I seldom get a waveoff inthe groove, however, when I'm already over the deck ,the vLSO waves me off. I don't even have a chance to retract the hook at that point, so it always results in a "C" mark. Why is he being such a b*?

 

I guess there the glideslope is so narrow that as soon as I'm a little off it triggers the Waveoff signal?

You are probably transitioning from the ball to flying the deck, trying to spot your landing. Keep your scan going, ball,line up, AOA  you might feel like you are over shooting but fly it all the way down.

11 hours ago, Weaponeer said:

You are probably transitioning from the ball to flying the deck, trying to spot your landing. Keep your scan going, ball,line up, AOA  you might feel like you are over shooting but fly it all the way down.

That is possible! Checking my vlso briefings there is a sharp drop in altitude over the ramp. 

 

There is ine thing though: it's very hard to see the ball through a pc screen.  If i zoom in i lose my sense of motion. It also gets blocked by the canopy bars. 

What version of vLSO are you using? There was an issue a few versions ago of late wave-offs, I was getting those in the Tomcat, pretty much already in the wires.

8.211 IIRC. I'm not at my pc at the moment though. What version are you using?

Yes the latest 0.8.2.11 full.

Hmmm. Still getting waved off in nugget mode. However I took your advice and kept my eye on the ball - well, not the ball but the ILS needle til the end, and I got  much better results. On the other hand I was too fixated so I started messing up my lineup.

 

Do you guys actually see the ball well enough to follow it or you also use the ILS needle?

I use ACLS/ILS for initial glide slope and line up then move to ball and LSO (if required) when close in, you need to keep your scan going as soon as you concentrate on one parameter you will lose another, BALL(glide slope), LINEUP, AOA repeat until you hit the deck . TRIM for on speed on down wind leg, Use DLC When in the grove keep V V on 3 degree line and on speed, don't over correct, pitch for speed control power for rate of descent. It will come, I really no longer use ILS for case one patterns if you hit the numbers will turning from the initial position  you will get a good start.