Super Carrier CATs

Aircraft: F14B
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Chris
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Joined: 23 Feb 2020, 21:12

Super Carrier CATs

Post by Chris »

Super Carrier CATs

There always seems to be an Ai issue getting on the CATS especially with CATS 3 & 4 particularly. Last night was no exception with CAT 3 blast wall stuck in the up position which made recoveries fun.... especially for the tubbies...

For launch, last night, we tried only using CATS 1 & 2. With 6 AC all lined up in 2's, launches were swift and orderly, with the first pair keeping to 300knts until all pairs were correctly spaced, then up to out normal cruise of 420.... Worked a treat, we will be keeping this sequencing... Sure CAT 2 Ai sometimes plays up but that generally is when someone is on CAT 3 or 4...
Kind Regards
Chris :)

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Father Cool
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Re: Super Carrier CATs

Post by Father Cool »

Hi Chris, I think I know what the issue is with the Cat's and what happened last night.

Form observation it seems that if an a/c is on cat 1 and someone tries to joint beside it the crew occasionally ignore you, once the first a/c launches the crew then respond. What happened with me and Shane on 3 and 4 last night was as follows. Shane joined cat 3 and I was waved onto cat 4, as I approached Shane hooked up and at that point the deck crew stopped guiding me, I thought it was a bug so pushed forward to try to jimmy them on but I think that put my wing under the sweep arc of the blast door. Shane took off and then the crew came back to life and waved me on, however I was now too far forward and couldn't hook up and because I still had my wing behind the blast door it didn't go down. I had to therefore move to cat 2 which went fine.

I think that if I had waited for Shane to take off before trying to jimmy the crew on, the hook up to the shuttle would have gone as normal. My theory is that if an a/c is in position and hooked up to the shuttle then the crew on the adjacent cat waits for that a/c to go, especially on 3 and 4 where clearance is tight between cats. I think some testing may be in order to iron out how it works but it could mean a carrier launch SOP regarding shuttle hook up procedure that would work moving forward.
Cavan Millward callsign: 'FC' - RAF Air UK
CAW & CO IX(B) Squadron
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Alien
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Re: Super Carrier CATs

Post by Alien »

We had Cats lined up on 1 and 2, one got call foward by the crew, 2 didn't want to play, so Funky suggested he got off Cat 1 and as soon as he launched, Boos got called to Cat 2. strange goings on.

But we've had 7 14's on board 1 & 2 under tension, 3 & 4 under tension, that was awhile go though.
Shane Cowan callsign: 'ALIEN' - RAF Air UK
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Alien
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Re: Super Carrier CATs

Post by Alien »

Father Cool wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 10:13 Hi Chris, I think I know what the issue is with the Cat's and what happened last night.

Form observation it seems that if an a/c is on cat 1 and someone tries to joint beside it the crew occasionally ignore you, once the first a/c launches the crew then respond. What happened with me and Shane on 3 and 4 last night was as follows. Shane joined cat 3 and I was waved onto cat 4, as I approached Shane hooked up and at that point the deck crew stopped guiding me, I thought it was a bug so pushed forward to try to jimmy them on but I think that put my wing under the sweep arc of the blast door. Shane took off and then the crew came back to life and waved me on, however I was now too far forward and couldn't hook up and because I still had my wing behind the blast door it didn't go down. I had to therefore move to cat 2 which went fine.

I think that if I had waited for Shane to take off before trying to jimmy the crew on, the hook up to the shuttle would have gone as normal. My theory is that if an a/c is in position and hooked up to the shuttle then the crew on the adjacent cat waits for that a/c to go, especially on 3 and 4 where clearance is tight between cats. I think some testing may be in order to iron out how it works but it could mean a carrier launch SOP regarding shuttle hook up procedure that would work moving forward.
Maybe next time or when there's 2 or more , we'll both move to the cats but not drop the bar or hook up , but like you see we'll have to try a few things and see what works or doesn't.
Shane Cowan callsign: 'ALIEN' - RAF Air UK
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Father Cool
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Re: Super Carrier CATs

Post by Father Cool »

Yes that's what I thought. I know we've had all under tension but I wonder if its about when you hook up to the shuttle, it may well have been that we just happened to be in position at the right times.

Worth a play I think.
Cavan Millward callsign: 'FC' - RAF Air UK
CAW & CO IX(B) Squadron
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