Carrier landings

[Austin Prefect]

On reading a discussion about whether the RN should have bought carriers with catapults/arrester wires together with F35C or even F18s, I wondered. Just how much additional training does a competent FJ pilot need before they can operate from such a carrier?

[zsdom]

A fair bit I'd imagine, the French send their carrier pilots out to the USA to learn their trade

I interviewed a French Navy Rafale pilot a few years ago & we talked about him coming back from a long mission landing in bad weather at night on a rolling carrier & he was asked what goes through his mind whilst approaching that kind of situation, his response:

I should've joined the air force!

[Simpo Two]

My guess is that a conventional carrier landing is easier to learn than a vertical one, where a whole new set of dynamics come into play.

[aeropilot]

Simpo Two said:

My guess is that a conventional carrier landing is easier to learn than a vertical one, where a whole new set of dynamics come into play.

That's not the view of the ex-FAA Sea Vixen, Bucc and Phantom pilots that later made the transition to the Sea Harrier.

But, yes, I always thought that we should have gone cat n trap with the new carriers, or not bothered. The reduced options for cross-decking is a massive limitation, even more so if USA's view of the world does dramatically change, as the whole point of the carriers in the Blair Govt view when ordered was for joint expeditionary ops with the USMC.