How to cage HUD

I've looked everywhere and can't figure out how to cage/uncaged the HUD as was explained in the case 1 recovery.... help!

Also is landing at full flaps or 1/2 flaps? It makes a huge difference in pattern distance from the carrier!

You land the hornet with full flaps.

In general the goal is to land as slow as you can.... ALSO be aware how much fuel you have in your plane when landing.. I cannot remember but you need something less than 3500 fuel, or with other words you need to be light when you land.

When you weight is low then you can fly slower, and that make the landing more soft than if you land with a fully loaded plane, then bad things might happen.

TIP...: before you make the final turn then while you have the gear and full flaps out and speed of example 140knots TRIM the plane so you fly level. It will make it more easy to land.

And remember use the trottle to adjust your height not the joystick.. with other words if you are to high, lower power a little bit, if you to low add more power.. The goal is to keep your joystick steady on the glide slope all the time.

it take some practice but once you learn then it become more easy to land.

regarding the cage/uncage the hud.. sorry I dont quite undestand or know the answer.. Personaly i just lower the gear/flaps/hook and then i have all the information i need.

BUT i think the cage button is the same button you use when you are using your sidewinder and lock onto a target that the sidwinder are looking at.. once you press the button you get a square arround your target with the sidewinder.

When you press the same button while yo uare landing ( with your your master arm in off/safe possition and no weapons selected ) you can move the headsup display a little bit to center or uncenter what you see.. this can be very nice in some situations.

I found this on google.

2.11.3.2 Cage/Uncage Button.

The cage/uncage button is located on the rear inboard side of the right throttle. In NAV master mode and A/G master mode (AUTO delivery), the cage/uncage button is used to cage and uncage the velocity vector. Depending on master mode and TDC priority assignment, the cage/uncage button can be used to (1) cage/uncage weapons, (2) command a radar STT, (3) toggle between weapon modes, or (4) reset sequenced HARM targets.

I would have agreed with that until watching this video. He's definitely making pitch changes.

It's really all about getting on speed AoA. You can adjust pitch to keep from sinking (usually I make these adjustments while trimming on speed on downwind to maintain 600 before the 180), but once you're on speed, you adjust pitch with power and speed with the stick. I know it sounds confusing, but after enough practice, you'll start to see what I mean.

Weight is important. You have to be under 34,000 pounds to land. You can see total aircraft weight from the checklist page. Fuel definitely contributes to that and if you're heavy and don't want to jettison munitions or pods, you can always dump fuel. Switch is easy to find, behind the throttle.

Finally, it's important to note that while you shouldn't be referencing airspeed (or at least fixating on it when landing), the airspeed will change based on how heavy or light you are. If you're clean with a centerline tank and carrying 50% fuel (or right at max weight), you're landing speed will be higher than if you're down around 2,000 pounds. Also, the throttle adjustments will move you around more quickly with a lighter jet, so get a feel for it early in the pattern if you can. Making adjustments you would make with 7,500 pounds of fuel when down around 2,000 pounds of fuel will send you flying over the deck or diving for it. Takes practice.

Finally, I cage the head on downwind so I can easily see the E bracket to trim up to on speed AoA, but once I'm in the groove, I uncage (there's a mapable button for that) which will give me a true indication of where the jet is moving based on wind. You always want to aim for the crotch of the ship. When you call the ball, you'll be right where you need to be.

Landing is at full flaps and you can configure this all the way during your break, but don't drop the gear until you're below ~250. If you pull the correct 3.5 G in the break, the gear-down will give you your E bracket when you roll out on downwind and begin to trim.

Thank you Gents! What is the Cage HUD called? I went through the mappable list and didnt recognize it. I will start landing with a lower fuel load per your advice! and also use full flaps, It starts to float so much though..... Float like a butterfly, sting like a Hornet hahahha

Just trying to hit all the marks in the pattern for case 1. I'm getting there after about 40 attempts, many bolters but no fire balls so far!

rassy.......I agree that's the best way to land in DCS. However, as can be seen in the video it's not how real pilots do it. I wonder how close the FM is in DCS if we have such a big difference in methods?

That's a video of a Super Etendard and not a Hornet which I don't think has FBW. The Hornet when dirtied up (gear and flaps down) trims for AOA which is important so you can catch a wire. If you move the stick forward or aft you change the AOA and your hook could skip a wire.

Here's a video of a Hornet carrier landing. You can see that although there is some movement it's much less pronounced than the Super Etendard.

Also Jabbers' video on carrier landings explains this well. Here's the link:

That's a video of a Super Etendard and not a Hornet which I don't think has FBW. The Hornet when dirtied up (gear and flaps down) trims for AOA which is important so you can catch a wire. If you move the stick forward or aft you change the AOA and your hook could skip a wire.

Here's a video of a Hornet carrier landing. You can see that although there is some movement it's much less pronounced than the Super Etendard.

Also Jabbers' video on carrier landings explains this well. Here's the link:

I missed that. Sorry for my blunder and I feel much better about our Hornet now.

Thank you Gents! What is the Cage HUD called? I went through the mappable list and didnt recognize it. I will start landing with a lower fuel load per your advice! and also use full flaps, It starts to float so much though..... Float like a butterfly, sting like a Hornet hahahha

 

 

Just trying to hit all the marks in the pattern for case 1. I'm getting there after about 40 attempts, many bolters but no fire balls so far!

Since no one really answered your cage question, it's under the hotas commands called cage/uncage. It's the same as used for aim 9 seeker/ changing modes for aim-7/aim-120.

Cage-uncage is the C key.

You land the hornet with full flaps.

In general the goal is to land as slow as you can.... ALSO be aware how much fuel you have in your plane when landing.. I cannot remember but you need something less than 3500 fuel, or with other words you need to be light when you land.

When you weight is low then you can fly slower, and that make the landing more soft than if you land with a fully loaded plane, then bad things might happen.

 

TIP...: before you make the final turn then while you have the gear and full flaps out and speed of example 140knots TRIM the plane so you fly level. It will make it more easy to land.

 

And remember use the trottle to adjust your height not the joystick.. with other words if you are to high, lower power a little bit, if you to low add more power.. The goal is to keep your joystick steady on the glide slope all the time.

it take some practice but once you learn then it become more easy to land.

 

regarding the cage/uncage the hud.. sorry I dont quite undestand or know the answer.. Personaly i just lower the gear/flaps/hook and then i have all the information i need.

BUT i think the cage button is the same button you use when you are using your sidewinder and lock onto a target that the sidwinder are looking at.. once you press the button you get a square arround your target with the sidewinder.

 

When you press the same button while yo uare landing ( with your your master arm in off/safe possition and no weapons selected ) you can move the headsup display a little bit to center or uncenter what you see.. this can be very nice in some situations.

 

I found this on google.

2.11.3.2 Cage/Uncage Button.

The cage/uncage button is located on the rear inboard side of the right throttle. In NAV master mode and A/G master mode (AUTO delivery), the cage/uncage button is used to cage and uncage the velocity vector. Depending on master mode and TDC priority assignment, the cage/uncage button can be used to (1) cage/uncage weapons, (2) command a radar STT, (3) toggle between weapon modes, or (4) reset sequenced HARM targets.

Instead of just using "low" weight to land, use the actual maximum landing weight for a CV of 33k lbs.

It's really all about getting on speed AoA. You can adjust pitch to keep from sinking (usually I make these adjustments while trimming on speed on downwind to maintain 600 before the 180), but once you're on speed, you adjust pitch with power and speed with the stick. I know it sounds confusing, but after enough practice, you'll start to see what I mean.

 

Weight is important. You have to be under 34,000 pounds to land. You can see total aircraft weight from the checklist page. Fuel definitely contributes to that and if you're heavy and don't want to jettison munitions or pods, you can always dump fuel. Switch is easy to find, behind the throttle.

 

Finally, it's important to note that while you shouldn't be referencing airspeed (or at least fixating on it when landing), the airspeed will change based on how heavy or light you are. If you're clean with a centerline tank and carrying 50% fuel (or right at max weight), you're landing speed will be higher than if you're down around 2,000 pounds. Also, the throttle adjustments will move you around more quickly with a lighter jet, so get a feel for it early in the pattern if you can. Making adjustments you would make with 7,500 pounds of fuel when down around 2,000 pounds of fuel will send you flying over the deck or diving for it. Takes practice.

 

Finally, I cage the head on downwind so I can easily see the E bracket to trim up to on speed AoA, but once I'm in the groove, I uncage (there's a mapable button for that) which will give me a true indication of where the jet is moving based on wind. You always want to aim for the crotch of the ship. When you call the ball, you'll be right where you need to be.

 

Landing is at full flaps and you can configure this all the way during your break, but don't drop the gear until you're below ~250. If you pull the correct 3.5 G in the break, the gear-down will give you your E bracket when you roll out on downwind and begin to trim.

Your 34k lbs landing weight is a restricted weight. FYI You can only do that if certain parameters are met.