PBS: Carrier - Landing on a Pitching Deck Pt. 1

Burnsengine Says:

Feb 23, 2011 - Honestly.... I have NO idea how these guys do this. I've been a pilot since 1999... and, I can say.... NO WAY AND NO THANKS!

Sax4Him Says:

Mar 16, 2011 - God bless everyone of these people involved, they're ALL amazing. Thank you service men & women!

booshels Says:

Apr 9, 2011 - the recovery took around 4-5 hours for this

booshels Says:

Apr 9, 2011 - the recovery took around 4-5 hours for this.

JagwarVenCo Says:

Apr 10, 2011 - @CRsBeem I'm pretty sure the reason why you do it is that in a real war, you might have to fight in those conditions, and as such its important to have experience flying and landing in those conditions.

LanceWinslow5 Says:

May 1, 2011 - Look, yes, it's difficult, and dangerous, but all this wimpy talk is ridiculous, if you can't handle it, quit, because there are a million guys in the US who'd gladly take your place. If you are a Naval Aviator you are best of breed, so start acting like it and stop complaining about how dangerous it is. What, like you thought it would be easy, all this scaredy-cat syndrome is really alarming, pathetic, and unacceptable. Be a man.

Spudskie Says:

May 6, 2011 - My biggest regret is having eyes bad enough that prevented me from joining the Navy.

tyltat2020 Says:

May 24, 2011 - The ensign looks like Tonya Harding. Ha ha ha lol. She is annoying as Hell.

lilbrother45 Says:

May 24, 2011 - The skipper launched in these horrible conditions cause his boys need the experience. The pilots need this. No matter how dangerous it is. Im behind the skipper 100%.

XF108FINALE Says:

Jun 2, 2011 - The dude adds a little more power at the end causing him to bolter...

ahrimanes Says:

Jul 19, 2011 - Eight people got seasick watching this video.

rzorNvme Says:

Sep 2, 2011 - Amazibf

mriley858 Says:

Oct 8, 2011 - I always ignorantly thought taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier was a basic easy thing, god damn was I wrong

jaybird7324 Says:

Oct 28, 2011 - awwww come on its not that tough guys!!!!!!!

FutureMarine1775USA Says:

Nov 3, 2011 - @jaybird7324 Apparently trying to hook a steel cable onto the back of an airplane while going 200 Knots (And the carrier is going 30) while the deck is pitching side to side is easy.

ltsmum3316 Says:

Nov 6, 2011 - Balls. Of. Steel. Fighter Pilots do the impossible.

ofbbg1 Says:

Nov 29, 2011 - As an old LSO, I've watched a few movies and videos of pitching deck ops recently, and can remember many times waving aircraft as an LSO in similar sea conditions, and the question keeps popping into my mind - Where is the MOVLAS (Manually Operated Visual Landing Aid System)? It was specifically designed to address situations just like this where the traditional "meatball" can't keep up with the movement of the pitching deck. Why wasn't it used?

Lunawhynot Says:

Dec 8, 2011 - This looks soooo hard. But I you gotta land 'em since F/A 18s don't float.

2ft314 Says:

Dec 30, 2011 - @LanceWinslow5 you're a fucking idiot! im sure you've done many dangerous things in your life and managed to downplay it as it was a piece of cake.. the purpose of the video and the interviews are for the civilians or non aviators to see what its like.. at the end of the day, these pilots are still flying scared or not

thespacepope88 Says:

Jan 3, 2012 - Major props to these guys. That's like trying to thread a needle while hanging out of the car and the needle is in your buddies hand.

01sircharles Says:

Jan 3, 2012 - something a computer still can't do......

LanceWinslow5 Says:

Jan 18, 2012 - @2ft314 First, stop acting like a punk, don't call me a F-idiot. My dad was a squardon CO, flew 250 combat missions in a A-4 in Vietnam, find another pilot whose done that. Further, he had a good friend partially "ram-strike" in 60 foot deck pitch on a rainy night in an A-7 and died on ejection. It's not as hard as they make it out, soon UAVs will be doing it remotely. If you call me a F-idiot again, don't go there. If Navy pilots are scared they don't belong there, I'd excited to at challenge.

normanjtongmd Says:

Jan 27, 2012 - Where is the computer assisted landing system?

Govner2 Says:

Feb 6, 2012 - Been there, done that, have the T-shirt. To answer "computer assisted landing system" question, there are no automatic aids that can handle this. It's not that the computer is not "fast", the problem is that computers can't anticipate or "see" what's ABOUT to happen because there aren't enough sensors compared to the human body in extreme conditions. Computer capability is a developing technology but is still a long way from handling what humans can do.

Govner2 Says:

Feb 6, 2012 - By the way, the interpretation of "Trick or Treat" was mis-stated in the video. When the aircraft is low on fuel, "Trick or Treat" is phraseology used by the ship's group called Tanker Control. When they transmit "Trick or Treat" over the air to the airborne F-18 tanker pilot, he knows to visually acquire (hawk) the aircraft landing (who is low fuel), and if the pilot doesn't perform his "trick" (land), then he gets a "treat" (fuel). So, it's "Trick" or "Treat".