Cant see ball, ever

Ive done many carrier landing so far, but each time I never see the ball, no matter if im perfectly on the glideslope or not. The ball thingy is just empty, no red or yellow. Ive had squad mates watch me and say they can't see my ball either, but when they land, they can see it.

This happens regardless of singleplayer or multiplayer.

Even when I contact the tower, doesn't seem to work, so I end up just landing with my eyes and E bracket on the hud.

Any suggestions?

The first two things I thought were:

Are you calling the ship's ATC to declare your intention to land?

Perhaps MSAA needs to be on at least the minimum if you have it off? Like how you need it for the shkval in the Ka-50.

Have you tried intentionally coming in low and then climbing up and going over the deck? And when you do this you never see the ball, red or yellow? If you do this the ball should go: no ball>>>red ball>>>yellow ball

You shouldn't need to contact the tower to turn the IFLOLS lights on, they should always be on, contacting the tower is only necessary to turn on the carrier box and tail lights on at night.

thanks for the replies but I have tried all these things with no luck :( and yeah when I come in low on purpose I never see the ball at all, zoomed in or no

Ill post a video later

You probably have already checked this but you not only need to be close to the glide slope but also aligned horizontally along the extended centerline of the angled deck. Otherwise you won't see the ball.

That said, I find the ball very hard to see, even when it's there. I have to zoom in real close. Maybe it depends on the graphics settings.

Ive done many carrier landing so far, but each time I never see the ball, no matter if im perfectly on the glideslope or not. The ball thingy is just empty, no red or yellow. Ive had squad mates watch me and say they can't see my ball either, but when they land, they can see it.

 

This happens regardless of singleplayer or multiplayer.

 

Even when I contact the tower, doesn't seem to work, so I end up just landing with my eyes and E bracket on the hud.

 

Any suggestions?

You simply are not on glide slope.

Now let me explain... The way the IFLOLS works is it is tied to your view, not necessarily your aircraft. For instance you can go to an external view and zoom out to the back of the deck and you can get to the proper positioning to watch the "ball" rise and fall based entirely on moving your view up and down.

So your buddies that were watching you would not see "your" ball unless they were in your cockpit. Chances are they were in an external view of your aircraft thus their "view" would be outside of a glide slope.

So, again, you are not on glide slope.

Punch in the carrier TACAN 55 if using a quick mission, this will show you the distance in the HUD

At .7 of a mile left to land (Call the Ball distance) you should be at 350 to 370 feet and the ball will be centerish.

If you want to come straight in from 5 miles, be at 1500 feet and the ball will be around center for 3 degree slope.

2.5 miles around 800 feet

This is works well for airfields using TACAN. 5 miles at 1500 feet

EDIT: One more way with math....

Also, If you want a 3 degree glide slope take your air speed multiply it by 10 and dived that number by 2. That will give you the sink rate you need for a 3 degree glide slope. For example 135 knots * 10 = 1350 / 2 = 675. So at 135 knots you should be looking for a sink rate of -675 to be on a 3 degree glide slope.

.

...So, again, you are not on glide slope.

Exactly! I used to say I couldn't see the ball and was kinda blaming it on VR, but I was never hitting my numbers. Once you're on the correct glide scope, you will definitely see the ball. And if you're hitting your number right, you will see the ball at the correct distance and time.

Setting anisotropic filtering to 16 helped me spot the ball easier. Maybe it'll help you too.

Setting anisotropic filtering to 16 helped me spot the ball easier. Maybe it'll help you too.

thanks bro, this was it. combined with tweaking my msaa settings. now it's working

thanks for all the replies guys

So even when you build a mission in the editor with the Stennis and you focus your view on the Stennis by pressing the F9 key ( I think off the top of my head, its one of those keys) and you pan aft of the carrier and change your angle you can't see the ball? Disregard you found it.