Not all that unusual in and of itself, but Nasty would bring his section of F-14s in 30 degrees inside the wake so that he would have more than 180 degrees to slow down. His signature maneuver was to approach the Boat at 600 knots and 600 feet. ![]() Distilled it and repeated it with maddening regularity. The best I ever saw was Nasty Manazir, and really, it’s not even close. As an LSO, I would stand on the platform in eager anticipation with my team, waiting and watching for the first plane to break the deck. So naturally, from the pilot’s perspective, it’s a license to steal. VA-46 Greenie Boardīut when you break the deck, there is a little dispensation given for the strict parameters, the unwritten mindset being that with an eye towards being expeditious, and shortening – even if it’s just by a few seconds – the amount of time the carrier must steer a dangerously predictable path into the wind, we are going to give this person a little leeway on the rigid parameters. OK pass.” And just like that, another green dot hangs on the Greenie Board for that pilot. The Controlling LSO will look at the writer and say something like, “A little high fast start, a little too much power on the comedown, a little fast flat at the ramp. The LSOs just watch the plane approach, magically appearing bigger by the moment until it smashes onto the deck dragging the hook between the 2- and 3-wires. The really good ones roll out with nary a wing wag, dip of the nose or modulations of the throttles. During each and every approach the pilots strive to fly the perfect pass, one where the plane rolls out perfectly on centerline, at the correct altitude (~250 feet) with the desired rate of decent (~ 700fpm) exactly on speed for optimum AOA (L/D Max). At the opposite extremes are the OK or OK-Underline (5.0), which is a perfect pass (Or an emergency landing) and the dreaded Cut Pass, which is an unsafe pass which still managed to achieve a landing (0.0).Ĭarrier landings, day and night, are exercises in repetitive perfection. The rest have some dispersion of yellows, turd browns and reds indicating Fair (3.0), No Grade (2.0) and Wave-Offs (1.0). The best pilots have a string of green dots after their names. The color for a 4.0, OK pass, which is Above Average, is green. It is called the Greenie Board because pilots get a little dot the size of a nickel for each arrested landing. Daylight carrier landing pattern diagram. When you walk into a Ready Room, you glance at the ‘Greenie Board’ and get an instant impression of who is leading the race for the Air Wing Top Ten. Those grades are posted for each squadron member in each of the Ready Rooms for all to see. It is art, science and voodoo shaken together, day and night, calm seas and rough–no mercy. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands all scored, recorded, tabulated and debriefed. It’s important to know that every carrier landing for the last 50+ years has been graded. ![]() But if you managed to time it just right, with skill and nerves of steel, you can swoop in for a SHB and get the trifecta an upgrade on your landing, the thrill of an impromptu air show with all eyes on you, and a little added adrenaline to the cocktail already swirling through your system. ![]() Wait too long and the other players in low holding will snake down in front of you for the honor and glory. ![]() Too early and you have to go into the spin pattern, cluttering up the entry for the birds behind you. It’s an unstated jockeying for position to be the first to leave the overhead stack, drift back behind the ship, turn back in following the wake and hit the break timing it just right so that the landing area goes green as you’re rolling into the groove, just 15-18 seconds from touchdown.
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