Video F/A-18 landing in bad weather on carrier
- Thread starter Racer88
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What is that thing with the loop in their right hands the guys on the phone are holding up? 
What is that thing with the loop in their right hands the guys on the phone are holding up?
The trigger activates a red light to indicate an "abort" / "wave off" command to the pilot if he's off the proper glide path by too much (unsafe). They also hold their hand (which is holding this device) up high to indicate to others that the landing area on the deck is not safe for other personnel (because a plane is inbound). Think of it as "the range is hot.... don't go downrange!"
I got to stand out there on the LSO (landing signal officer) platform once during "recovery" (landing) operations. It was really cool. I got some photos. Now I have to find them.
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It's the "pickle switch". The LSO hits the switch if the aircraft is out of a safe landing position. For each aircraft, there is a certain distance where the plane can execute a wave-off. It is farther away for an F-18 than an E-2. Approach speed, engine spool up, aerodynamics all factor in.
The LSOs hold it over their head until they hear a Safe Deck call, then lower it as a visual signal to everyone else that the plane is landing. If the plane reaches the last safe point with no Safe Deck call, they pickle the plane away. The LSOs primarily focus on the plane. Others on the platform are watching the landing zone and other light signals. Still others are below decks getting the arresting gear set. Planes clearing the landing zone, equipment and people in the landing zone... It's a very complex ballet of visual signals, light signals, radio calls, interphone calls, instincts, and sixths senses with death as a consequence of missing one thing.
Fun fact. Launch and recovery can be done with no radio communications. All hand and light signals.
The LSOs hold it over their head until they hear a Safe Deck call, then lower it as a visual signal to everyone else that the plane is landing. If the plane reaches the last safe point with no Safe Deck call, they pickle the plane away. The LSOs primarily focus on the plane. Others on the platform are watching the landing zone and other light signals. Still others are below decks getting the arresting gear set. Planes clearing the landing zone, equipment and people in the landing zone... It's a very complex ballet of visual signals, light signals, radio calls, interphone calls, instincts, and sixths senses with death as a consequence of missing one thing.
Fun fact. Launch and recovery can be done with no radio communications. All hand and light signals.
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I really thought I had this video cracked.
Here I was thinking they're all waving in mass over their heads in hopes the pilot would see them and not run over them and flatten them to the deck.
And the switch over their heads was a last-second, "oh-shit" backup emergency light to turn on just in case the pilot doesn't give a big thumbs up acknowledging them through his windshield in the fog.
Here I was thinking they're all waving in mass over their heads in hopes the pilot would see them and not run over them and flatten them to the deck.
When I arrived at the LSO platform, the FIRST thing they told me was, "If you see us jumping over the side, you should follow us!" There's actually a funnel-like net over the side that flips you onto the next deck below when you jump into it.
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I really thought I had this video cracked.
Here I was thinking they're all waving in mass over their heads in hopes the pilot would see them and not run over them and flatten them to the deck.
You are not that far off actually. In the old days, when ships were made of wood and men were made of steel, the first LSOs used big paddles in their hands that the pilots could see. The nickname for the LSOs is "paddles" and still in use today. Approach speeds were a lot slower and time to react was a lot longer. The LSO would use various standardized signals which looked like waving and dancing to anyone not an aviator. Everything they did was very standardized and every movement had specific meanings.
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That's funny. In my initial post I had typed this below but removed it. LOL!
"Pardon my ignorance, but I'm used to watching John Wayne and old WWII movies and documentaries."
But, I'm still wondering if they would charge me more if I had to leap over the side of the ship into the net as described above. That's a hell of a carnival ride.
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