Due to the difficulty of landing Air Force fighter planes on the aircraft carrier, the three fighter planes of the Ghost Squadron had already separated enough distance beforehand, with Wang Yu, who had the least fuel, as the first, followed by Murong Lan, and Luo Yu last.
On the aircraft carrier, the deck has been basically cleared, and they have reserved enough space for aircraft to land.
Previously, they hoped to erect a blocking net, which is a device that can prevent fighter planes from rushing out of the deck. However, once used, it will take a certain amount of time to clean up after the fighter planes rush into the blocking net. Wang Yu considered Luo Yu and Murong Lan's
There wasn't much fuel left, so we didn't want the deck to be clogged for too long, so we took the risk and didn't set up a blocking net.
Therefore, in addition to the staff who are unable to leave, the only people currently on standby on the aircraft carrier deck are the emergency damage control troops.
It would be terrible if the plane fell and made a hole in the deck.
At the same time, there are helicopters moving with the ship on the surrounding sea, and rescuers are also prepared on the frigates around the aircraft carrier, just waiting for these air force guys to accidentally get away, and they can go to the rescue.
The preparations are not inadequate. After all, this is the first time an Army aircraft has landed on an aircraft carrier since the emergence of jet aircraft. Even if they know that the Ghost Squadron is highly skilled, they are so different that they have not been trained to land on an aircraft carrier.
It is indeed difficult to predict whether the aircraft with a landing speed of more than 100 knots can land accurately on this narrow deck.
Therefore, no matter whether the result is smooth or not, for the sake of the safety of both parties, the fleet commander cannot take it lightly.
Of course, not all those present were relevant.
In the walking area on both sides of the aircraft carrier deck, a group of people were squatting, waiting to watch the excitement.
What's more, some even took out their cameras, preparing to record this once-in-a-lifetime scene.
While the aircraft carrier was getting ready, Wang Yu, the first aircraft of the Ghost Squadron, also entered the final approach stage.
At the stern of the aircraft carrier, there is a relatively special device placed in a place. Generally speaking, it functions as a signal light and is responsible for guiding the fighter planes about to land on the ship to adjust their flight direction.
Generally speaking, in naval aviation operations, pilots do not fly around the aircraft carrier to complete the CASE 1 process landing in bad weather or at night. Instead, after contacting the tower, they approach directly from behind the aircraft carrier.
With the help of landing signal lights, deck lights and other information, you can land directly on the deck.
The mentioned guidance signal light on the stern comes into play at this time - when the pilot can visually see the aircraft carrier during this process, he will naturally see the signal light on the stern. At this time, under the refraction of the special device
, in the pilot's field of vision, the signal light may appear in three colors: red, yellow, and green, representing the angle deviation between the fighter aircraft and the angled deck.
Only when the light turns yellow does it mean that the fighter plane remains on the center course of landing.
Therefore, when landing, HNA pilots will stare at the light in the early stages to keep the fighter plane's flight direction straight.
But this time, Wang Yu and the others are different.
Wang Yu looked at the dazzling red light on the light, which meant that his flight direction veered significantly to the left.
If such a large deviation occurs during the normal approach phase, a go-around can be performed immediately.
What he was doing at this time was exactly like in the game, when he found that he was not aiming at the runway, but he still had to bite the bullet and land on the aircraft carrier...
You can't blame him for this. The landing direction given by the guidance signal light is the direction for the aircraft to land on the angled deck, which is also the "runway" for standard carrier-based aircraft to land.
But in order to utilize every inch of the deck on the aircraft carrier as much as possible, the flight direction he chose was not along the angled deck, but directly in line with the forward direction of the aircraft carrier.
So that's why he ignored the guidance lights.
To put it simply, this landing direction allows him to use the entire deck length of the aircraft carrier to slow down after landing on the stern deck. With the speed of the unloaded fighters and the aircraft carrier itself, he may be able to stop smoothly.
Well, it's easy to say, but it's really difficult.
After all, this time we were not landing on a stable land airport.
The aircraft carrier is moving, not only sailing forward, but also constantly swaying with the ups and downs of the waves.
Part of the reason why a carrier-based aircraft needs a high descent rate and then "smashes" down when landing is because the ups and downs of the aircraft carrier deck cause the height of the runway to change all the time. If a high descent rate glideslope is not used, then the fighter plane will be approaching the stern of the ship.
Sometimes, it is easy to be killed due to the sudden rise of the aircraft carrier deck.
But the difficulty does not end there. Apart from the slight fluctuations in the deck, Wang Yu also has to consider the performance of the fighter plane.
The F-15 was not designed for hard landings. The landing gear of fighter aircraft has extremely high requirements for landing strength.
If you are not careful, it will be the result of "broken legs".
Therefore, in order to prevent the fighter plane from being damaged and losing control, he could not learn the landing method like that required by the naval aviation force to maintain a descent rate of close to 250 meters per minute when landing.
He could only keep the nose of the fighter plane raised and level as if landing on land, so as to land at the end of the deck at the earliest possible landing point, with the smallest possible descent rate and as smooth a glide path as possible.
The difficulty is not that high. If you are not careful, the landing gear may be broken by being hit by the edge of the deck. You may be afraid that the fighter plane will be directly connected to the rear of the deck or fall into the sea.
This is also the reason why everyone in the fleet is not optimistic about these three air force fighters and has prepared a large number of rescues.
As the fighter planes gradually approached the aircraft carrier, Wang Yu began to be able to clearly see the equipment on the aircraft carrier.
Including the Fresnel optical landing signal light at the tail of the aircraft carrier used to remind pilots of the height of the glide slope in the final stage, and the landing signal officer on the side of the stern deck who was looking attentively at the approaching fighter aircraft or the screen in front of him.
The so-called Fresnel landing light, also known as the "meat ball", uses different positions of the light on the device to indicate to the landing pilot the height of the glideslope where the aircraft is located. Generally, when approaching landing,
There are only three things the pilot has to do - keep an eye on the center line of the angled deck, keep an eye on the landing light, and then adjust the throttle to keep the fighter on the most appropriate glide path.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! In various movies involving carrier-based aircraft, you can see the pilots doing "call the ball" when landing.
"light)" behavior means that the pilot has noticed the optical landing light.
But Wang Yu doesn’t have this process at all.
Because of the landing, he lowered the glide path very low, so it was much lower than the glide path of a normal carrier-based aircraft when landing. Therefore, Wang Yu couldn't see the so-called signal on the optical descent assist light at all, and naturally he couldn't.
call the ball.
At the same time, the landing signal officers standing in the landing guidance area at the stern of the ship were also in a daze.
This is a regular unit on the aircraft carrier, generally manned by experienced retired pilots. They are responsible for standing on the side of the stern deck and using radio communications or various light signals to provide guidance and assistance for landing aircraft.
There is a screen in the work area of the landing signal officer, which displays the perspective captured by a camera on the oblique deck aimed at the stern of the ship.
The center of the picture is exactly aligned with the most suitable direction of the glide path for the fighter aircraft during landing.
To put it simply, when a carrier-based aircraft needs to land, if it is in the center of the screen in front of the landing signal officer during the final approach, it means that the fighter aircraft is in height or left and right.
No deviation.
The job that the landing signal officers need to complete is to capture the fighter plane on this screen and notify the pilot to make adjustments to the fighter plane based on its position on the screen so that it can finally land smoothly on the deck.
But this time things are different.
When Wang Yu's plane approached, it was not within the camera's capture range for a long time due to its angle and glide path.
To put it simply, no aircraft was captured on the screen at all.
The landing signal officers raised their heads and looked at the approaching aircraft. Then they looked down at the empty screen and looked confused.
But they are experienced enough to at least see that the glide path of this aircraft is ridiculously low. According to conventional experience, they will definitely light up the flashes on both sides of the Fresnel optical landing lights to let the pilots perform a go-around, but this
They have been reminded this time not to blindly provide guidance.
So these people could only lower their bodies, look at the approaching plane, and pray in their hearts for the pilot on this plane.
In short, it was only when Wang Yu was so close that he was only about three-quarters of a mile away from the aircraft carrier that the fighter jet appeared on the screen.
The figure of the fighter plane is located in the lower left corner of the screen.
This means that the glideslope is low and the flight direction is to the left relative to the direction of the angled deck.
"Ghost One, three-quarters of a mile, ready to land."
The vertical height between Wang Yu's flight altitude at this time and the aircraft carrier deck is only about a few dozen meters at most, so this last stretch of distance from the aircraft carrier is more than three-quarters of a mile, because the aircraft carrier is still moving forward at all times.
High-speed movement - he needs to maintain an almost flat floating state to complete this last section of flight.
At this time, maintaining the stability of the fighter's power was a very critical operation. In order to keep the fighter in a steady decline, he needed to constantly rub the throttle and adjust the fighter's power.
The fighter's angle of attack is 23 degrees. Viewed from the outside, the fighter is in a posture with its nose raised and falling downward. In order to maintain the fighter's lift as much as possible, Wang Yu fully extended the flaps to ensure
The fighter plane is at the critical point of landing speed without stalling.
He needs to make his landing as slow as possible.
The slower the speed, the greater the chance that he will be able to stop after landing.
Wang Yu watched the deck getting closer and closer to the fighter plane.
He stared at the edge of the stern deck to determine the pattern of the aircraft carrier rising and falling with the waves.
Within a few seconds, the fighter plane was only a hundred meters away from the aircraft carrier.
"be prepared."
Wang Yu said this.
Then, at a moment when the aircraft carrier deck was about to rise with the waves, he pushed the throttle slightly, causing the fighter plane's descent rate to almost return to zero.
And at the same moment, the rear landing gear of the fighter jet passed the edge of the deck at a height of less than half a meter. As the deck of the aircraft carrier lifted upwards and the fighter jet descended slightly, the landing gear entered the deck area at the last two points.
At a distance of two meters, the fighter plane completes contact with the deck.
Rather than being as rough as the naval aviation force, which is like smashing a fighter plane onto the deck, Wang Yu's landing was still gentle. The landing gear touched the aircraft carrier deck, and only a little white smoke was blown up.
However, when he received a slight vibration from the fighter plane beneath him, Wang Yu immediately fully opened the speed brakes, lowered the nose of the aircraft to allow the nose landing gear to contact the deck, and then stepped on both feet at the same time to activate the wheel brakes.
During a normal landing, the wheel brakes would not be pressed to prevent tire blowout or excessive wear, but at this time Wang Yu could no longer care so much.
Although he landed as far forward as possible, the deck of the aircraft carrier is only that long after all.
The aircraft carrier's island flew past the fighter plane.
The speed of the fighter aircraft is rapidly decreasing, and the usable deck distance in front is getting shorter and shorter.
A fighter plane that is empty of fuel and has no mounts is much lighter than a fighter plane that lands under normal conditions, so its inertia is smaller and the deceleration distance is naturally smaller.
In the blink of an eye, the speed of the fighter plane dropped to the normal speed of taxiing on the airport, but it still couldn't work and had to stop completely.
So Wang Yu started to step on the rudder left and right to make the fighter plane go in an S shape. In this way, the fighter plane finally stopped just before it reached the edge of the bow deck.
The uninvolved people watching in the walkway on the edge of the deck took timely photos of this scene that was enough to amaze countless people - an Air Force fighter plane successfully landed on the aircraft carrier.
The fighter plane was intact. Although it landed a little heavy in the end, the landing was not satisfactory.
After the fighter plane came to a complete stop, the ground crew who had been waiting for a long time drove the cart and pulled the fighter plane aside - Air Force aircraft did not have as good a ground turning function as naval aviation aircraft, so they could not move freely on the deck of the aircraft carrier.
To move, it can only be moved to the lift on one side with the help of a cart.
Of course, the main purpose is to clear the deck for the landing people behind.
Luo Yu and Wang Yu are not worried about their skills at all. The Flanker series fighters also have better low-speed performance and deceleration capabilities.
So after Wang Yu was sure that he had successfully landed, his whole body relaxed and he leaned back on the seat almost paralyzed.
After a successful landing, it was finally confirmed that the mission was completed.
In this way, all the fatigue accumulated in previous tasks, whether mental or physical, burst out at the same time.
He felt the fatigue spreading throughout his body, the dryness of his skin and the thirst in his mouth.
This mission is long and heavy, and the whole process is mentally stressful. Perhaps only they can successfully complete it.
Wang Yu heard Liu Lingxin muttering in the back seat that she felt uncomfortable and wanted to take a shower, so he expressed that he also wanted to take a shower together and then rest.
"Ah? Aren't you tired?" Liu Lingxin looked at Wang Yu in surprise.
What she said was obviously recalling the various behaviors that had happened between the two of them when they took a shower together.
"Where are you thinking..."
Wang Yu shook his head: "At least this time, I really don't plan to do anything more."