MSFS - F-18 Landing

[@shenmisheshou7002]

This isn't how you land an F-18 (or any carrier qualified fixed wing AC). This is how you land a Cessna Citation. The way you land an F18 is that you fly the meatball right on to the ground. The F-18 is not flared during landing. The AOA is held constant with a speed of about 130 knots (depending on loadout and other factors) and the decent rate is kept at about -800. The AC simply contacts the ground in the right AOA and sink rate and the very rugged and competent landing gear does the rest. If you ever watch Marine and Naval aviators land, they do this same landing on fixed base runways as they do on carriers. Every landing is done the same way a carrier landing because you want to be absolutely consistent. You train to do what you have to do, and if you have to land on a carrier, you have to land using the meatball centered and the sink rate correct until touchdown is the correct way to land the F18, F14, F4, and all other fixed wing AC designed to operate on carriers. Again, this same landing is used on fixed bases as well. No flare. Air Force pilots that have the luxury and a 2 mile runway can afford to make pretty landings, but *the prettiest landing is a third wire grab on a pitching and rolling deck* and to achieve that, you ALWAYS land the AC as if you are landing on a carrier. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYeueqKgZqiphZY

[@rdablock]

it's a normal runway, you can flare it just fine. also better a 1-wire than a bolter

[@jimlee3150]

Not all F-18's are flown off carriers, and it is not weird for a US Navy F-18 land conventionally at a field: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kKqkgWeZbadli9U

[@schwappingmags1008]

You are taught to do that to form memory and be consistent, but I've heard directly from a few F-18 pilots that they always or sometimes flare when landing on land

[@Flanker37t]

@@rdablock actually, bolter is much better than a 1-wire. Also, even when operating from fields, naval fighters are never flared.

[@bird.9346]

@@Flanker37t You may say that, but there's actual footage of them flaring, and I've heard pilots say they do. Some might not because they need to retain muscle memory for carriers, but rcaf pilots don't flare so who knows. Point is, they are often flared.

[@Hairysteed]

Flaring and aerobraking with an F-18?!? What are you, Air Force?!

[@tannercook4322]

Smack that

[@hmuphilly9129]

what are you, hairy force?

[@AJS86]

Flaring the Hornet? WTF

[@Hairysteed]

@@hmuphilly9129 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWe1pqtjhbiqnMk

[@StormRaid417]

Landing the f18 is surprisingly easy. Just go to a slow enough speed for full flaps and line up with the runway with a slow rate of losing altitude. Nose up when close to landing and let the jet do the rest.

[@ExcelMotorworks]

Exceptional video. Extremely informative and helpful. More tutorials on the F-18 please!!

[@darrellbrackett7948]

Thanks! Keep the F/A18 vids coming.

[@tymotoboy53]

Just a pro tip, engage speed brakes about 400 feet before landing and keep throttle at mill before touchdown in case you need to disengage speed brakes and do a go around. It’s a safety precaution in case your landing won’t be smooth and you can easily take back off. Smooth landing still though

[@cabramacho5940]

At speed 190 the aircraft does an uncontrolled aileron roll on final and I crash, when land at speeds over 299 knots the plane crashes on touchdown. What am I doing wrong ? Also I’m using the speed breaks

[@thomasluke-wp8or]

​@@cabramacho5940 i touch down at 170 with no speed brakes and no issues

[@robertoazzolina8176]

Good job, dude. Thx. Just a curiosity: why do you speak SO damn fast? I must listen to your comment on 0.75 speed to understand what you're saying ... )))

[@daywalker5458]

hahahahahahaha, you may just listen slowly Roberto.... 🙂

[@hueyhetts4361]

@parker stucki, it is a small switch on the left side of the throttle

[@Happyland_Motel_Gamer_Cat]

The vector circle on the hud, i am unsure how to read.

[@TuxPanther]

That landing gear should be pissed it had such a smooth landing for a carrier aircraft.

[@bryce.hooops]

Will the top gun maverick dlc add radar and other stuff to the hornet you think 🤔

[@GOBUCS82]

I doubt it. We get a different paint job from the new movie and That's it. It would be nice if they would at least put the top gun music in the game to enjoy while we fly around in free flight.

[@VonSpookydoodle]

I've done 100's of smooth landings in DCS World but I can't in msfs2020 with the F-18. My right landing gear seems to go into the ground everytime resulting in a crash because my right wing hits the ground.

[@stormrunnercore]

I’ve noticed that too.

[@cbet25]

The flight model is terrible. The VRS Superbug in FSX was better

[@lawrencequave7361]

Six weeks ago my FSX broke so I bought FS2020 and started relearning how to fly the C-172 with the G1000 cockpit, which I had some real-world experience with about eight years ago. As it turned out, this flight sim C-172 was an excellent airplane. Almost everything worked like the real McCoy. I wish I had had this sim aircraft eight years ago. Then I decided to try the F-18 featured here. What a piece of crap compared to the VRS F/A-18E Superbug I had been flying on FSX for the past several years in which EVERYTHING worked. It took me over two years to finally become somewhat proficient with all its navigation and ordnance systems, to include making carrier landings that took an ENORMOUS amount of practice. As I said, NOT SO with the FS2020 F-18. It's a toy that's unrealistic in which I could never make good landings. Then, a few days ago, I figured out how to fix my FSX. What a welcome joy that I was able to fly my Superbug again! While how scenery in FS2020 is displayed looks considerably more realistic than in FSX, it is not as realistic as it first appears to be. E.g., The Verrazzano Narrows bridge in NYC is but a concrete span bridge as opposed to the beautiful suspension bridge that it really is. Yeah, the Empire State Building looks okay, but what ELSE is wrong? While FS2020 likely has some aircraft that are realistic (like the C-172 I mentioned), I suspect many are much incomplete as this F-18E is. I'll continue to fly FS2020 as a game in which to do some nice sightseeing, but for a REAL flight simulator I'll continue to use FSX. Maybe in 5-8 years FS2020 will at last be fully 'up to snuff' with FSX. Just my opinion ........

[@AJS86]

If you want a proper Hornet. Fly DCS

[@lawrencequave8691]

@@AJS86 maybe you can help me. I've flown DCS. I like DCS. But where I was flying (Caucasia, or some such) the sky was always hazy with sand. I could never get a clear sky. I could never get sharp terrain. I wanted to learn to fly the F-18 on a sim where everything was clear and sharp. My point: I could never find a reference that would help me setup my airplane and environment like I wanted. Got any suggestions?

[@AJS86]

@@lawrencequave8691 a lot of the maps are desert based obviously middle eastern conflicts have been common. So there's just the typical Sandy terrain. But Caucasus which is like Russia and other eastern Europe areas is different

[@hueyhetts4361]

Also thanks for makeing this video it helped me alot.

[@ELPaso1990TX]

What minimum runway length is required for the F18?

[@danielwatts7375]

A few hundred feet if you have an arresting cable..

[@xenvision8676]

I still have not figured out how to shut down the F18..

[@robertoazzolina8176]

You must know one trick, not just to put on idle both throttles (if you do that you won't ever shut off engines down): the trick is to put the mouse cursor on the single throttle, then click-left, after that while keeping on pressing left click press mouse right-click on the same time. The throttle will go beyond an invisible indent and the engine will shut off. Just repeat procedure on the second engine.

[@parkerstucki9833]

Where are the speed brakes in the cockpit? I can’t find them

[@daywalker5458]

Yes, where is the "speed brake" control?

[@MikeP01111]

On the side of the „throttle“

[@cabramacho5940]

At speed 190 the aircraft does an uncontrolled aileron roll on final and I crash, when land at speeds over 299 knots the plane crashes on touchdown. What am I doing wrong ? Also I’m using the speed breaks

[@kake4654]

At 299 knots that’s obvious what your doing wrong and the roll is cause you need to put flaps down after gear so the flaps will go down further helping stability

[@AudieHolland]

Touch down speed is under (corrected) 140 knots. Speed brakes should only be used for short breaking moments, like when you're in danger of overflying the touch down zone and you're already low on fuel so no go around possible. My advice would be to also look at your plane's attitude using external camera. The Superhornet is rather touchy and a bit unstable in comparison to airliners so it does take some getting used to. Also, try the Carrier Landing Challenge. Even though this is much harder than landing at a regular runway, you can judge from your scores afterwards what to focus on. And after you've managed to land on a carrier without crashing, landing on a regular runway will be a breeze.

[@cabramacho5940]

@@AudieHolland lol feels good to not be an armature any more and I’m also embarrassed at this silly comment I posted 8 months ago. I’ve got it down packed now

[@cabramacho5940]

@@kake4654 after 8 months of practice and a 180 from worst to better a 299 knot attempted landing sounds Insane

[@AudieHolland]

@@cabramacho5940 No worries. Like I said, the F-18 is not as stable as other planes so first time I managed to land, I just took it across the runway's threshold at 200 knots, then decreased the throttle untill it was acceptable (150 knots-ish). Need plenty of runway for that of course. I haven't tried landing on shorter runways than at regular airports. Now if small airports had arrestor cables, it may be do-able.

[@massey4business]

Butter.. Peanut butter, 😂 yet butter nonetheless.