How Navy Pilots Fly to the Carrier With VIPs

All right, give me the approach checks. Okay, air conditioning, it's on. Brake cycle panel, checked. Ramp, lock, close, clear from the crew. Nosal steering, it's on. Autofeather switch, armed, lights on. Anti-icing panel, set. Cat extender hook bypass switch, carrier. Parking brake, it's in. Packs of eyes lights, they're set. Loose gear, it's stowed. Cockpit door, closed. Fuel, we're good, sitting well above bingo. Altimeters right out, set. Nav aids, obviously we've got a visual mom for the DB straight in, but I've got her dialed in just in case. Crew, briefed. Fuel dome switch, off. AFCS, power only. Exterior taxi lights, they're set. Weather radar, it's off. Hydraulic isolation valve, take off and land. We are down to landing checks. What's up, boys and girls? You're here just in time. Welcome inside the cockpit of a Navy C2 Greyhound. We are coming in overhead of the ship, aka the boat, aka mom, aka mother, for you very formal types. I'm your host and voice for today's flight, Rob Roy. That's me on the left side of the screen, sitting in the co-pilot seat, joined by my pilot on the right, and we are getting ready to set up for what's called a DB straight in. DB standing for Distinguished Visitor. Now you can see the pilot is looking down out the window and to his left. He's checking out the LA, or the landing area, to see what the activity is on the flight deck. Are there planes taking off on CAT 3 and 4? Is the deck foul for any reason? Basically, are we good to go if we come into trap in a few minutes to be on time for our ramp time? Speaking of ramp time, in case you didn't know, every carrier-based plane has a set launch and ramp time for when we get catapulted off or come into trap. Normally we would come in for the carrier break, aka the overhead, to set up for a racetrack-style pattern that is very unique to naval aviation. But in this case, because we have some VIPs in the back of our plane, and mostly because Big Brother is watching, we unfortunately have to come in for a DB straight in. And trust me when I say, unfortunately. As a CT pilot, we don't drop bombs. We don't shoot missiles. We don't even have millions of dollars of classified computers in the back. Hell, they don't even give us a pistol. All we have to look forward to as aviators is landing and taking off from the boat. And when the carrier break is taken away from us so that some senator doesn't throw up in the back of our plane, you know, it hurts a little. I'm sorry. I digress. Well, that's enough rambling for me. I'm going to fast forward a little bit so we can get to the good stuff. Now we're getting set up for this straight in a couple miles behind the boat. Pilot says, speed checks. Clear me on the gear. And I say, clear. Gear's coming down. You can see the plane jiggle a little bit as the gear starts coming down. You can also see the left main gear in the side mirror just now. And you can't miss the flashing of the wheels warning light telling us the gear is in transit. All right, landing checks. Power lever lock. It's set. Hook. It's down. Landing gear. One, two, three. Down and locked. On the left and on the right. Flaps. Two thirds. Max rudder switch. 20 degrees. Crew. Ready. Harnesses. Locked. Well, there's not much more to talk about here until we get a little closer to the boat. So I'm going to jump ahead one more time. Now we're behind the carrier on about a two and a half to three mile final. Honestly, straight ins are almost harder than coming in for the break. There's just more time to mess things up. And we really don't do straight ins all that often. And if you think that it's comparable to landing on a runway on land, you're not necessarily wrong. But remember, we're lined up to the landing area, which is angled several degrees to the left of the actual direction of the ship. You can see this quite clearly as the wake of the ship is to our left and not directly underneath us. The point being we are constantly flying a little to the right or in paddle speak, a little quote right for lineup all the way to touchdown. Factor that in with trying to get to a good start so we can fly the ball once we're at three quarters of a mile and on glide slip. It's not rocket surgery, but it's also not something we practice every day. And I would bet that most naval aviators prefer the organized chaos of the carrier break followed by a racetrack pattern over a couple mile final straight in. Okay, pay attention. It's about to get real. Notice the angle of attack indicator showing that we're a little fast. Now we're on speed. It's a little hard to see in this video, but it's showing us an amber colored circle. Now a scan is in full swing. Meatball lineup AOA a little bit fast, but still working the power to stay energized and on glide slip. Meatball lineup AOA working towards center line. Never mind the big yoke movements still flying the ball. It's a little crester looking good. Notice there are only three wires because we're on the bush. Oh, there it is. Good thing that harness is locked. Mail call. Now let's get chalked and chained, dump the DVS, grab some fuel and a quick bite so we can turn around for the cat shot. Otherwise they'll make us stay for a while and do some real See ya.