Manual

flying the Upwind leg. Press the LandingHook Toggle (H Key).When you reach a point approximatelyone mile in front of the carrier, it’s time toturn into the second leg of the approachtheCrosswind Leg. Turn into theCrosswind Leg at a 45 0 to 60 0 left bankangle.CROSSWIND LEG: The Crosswind leg isso named because you are now flyingwith the wind at a perpendicular angle.Level off from the turn and extend yourspeed brake briefly by pressing theBrake Toggle (B Key). Keep it on longenough to bring your airspeed down tojust below 300 knots. At the same time,you should be gradually descending to600 ft. altitude. Hold at 600 ft. using theAutomatic Pilot (P Key).When you reach a point approximatelyone mile west of the carrier, it’s time toturn into the third leg of the approach- theDownwind Leg.DOWNWIND LEG: The Downwind Leg isso named because you are now flyingwith the wind at your back (down the winddirection). Level off from the turn andlower your landing gear by pressing theLanding Gear (G Key).Your airspeed will immediately drop assoon as the drag effects of having yourwheels down takes hold of the aircraft.Add power as necessary to maintain anairspeed of at least 225 knots. Continuedescending to an altitude of no less than500 ft.Upon reaching a point approximately 3/4to 1 nm astern of (behind) the carriermake a 90 0 left turn onto the Base Leg ofthe landing pattern.BASE LEG: The Base Leg is your lastchance to make corrections beforeturning “on final”. Your airspeed shouldcontinue to gradually bleed off to 160knots with your landing gear extended.Your altitude should be no greater thanLanding PatternGood Weather (Daytime) ApproachDownwindLeg250-200KIAS500ft altGearloweredCrosswind Leg 300 KIAS 600ft altBolterPatternfullthrottleCarrierGroupmaintains course"into thewind"Base Leg 200-150 KIAS450-400 ft altTakeoff"Final"135KIAS360-300ft altWINDUpwindLeg400-350KIAS800 ft altHookloweredCall the "Ball"In good weather (daytime) approaches, pilotsare required to follow a racetrack approachpattern consisting of four basic “legs”. Each leggradually has you flying just a little bit lower anda little bit slower.400 ft. You must hold this altitude yourselfbecause the Automatic Pilot has difficultybeing precise below 500 ft.Once you are satisfied that you have theaircraft under proper control, steal a quickglance out the left side. Look for thecarrier. When you see that it is lined updirectly perpendicular to your flight path,it’s time to turn on final.FINAL APPROACH: From this point on,until your wheels touch on the deck,nothing you do will seem fast enough.You’ll always be playing “catch-up”, onestep behind the pace of events.You’ll intercept the glideslopeapproximately 3/4 of a mile from thecarrier. At this point you should be flyingat no more than 145 knots and no higherthan 360 ft.