“ opens the last chapter of the last 100 years, to give the pilot the speed and flight path that he wants.” Slow down or speed up, Magic Carpet does what it must to maintain that same glidepath to the ship. “It’s like a bird landing on a wire, the whole trailing edge of the wing is moving and adjusting,” explains Denham. Magic Carpet, though, takes over all the flight controls and the four flight control computers, forcing any combination of flight controls necessary to respond instantly to deliver what the pilot needs. Because of engine lag, a pilot’s ability to respond to a dynamic flight environment is challenged. The approaches are all done on the back side of the power curve. However, after 20 or so approaches, I made more traps than not, Magic Carpet working hard to reduce pilot workload. Everyone on the ship and especially those turkeys on Vulture’s Row know you just screwed up major league. Predictably, I had several bolters, including a “cut pass”-down the starboard side, nonetheless-the worst thing that can happen to a carrier pilot short of ending up in the drink.
Later, Denham pulled out all the stops, failing the head-up display and the autothrottles, and transitioning us to night flight. Once, a little low, I pulled back and “elevated” back up to the meatball and let go again. I just needed to apply slight left and right corrections. The airplane started down at 3.5 degrees. With Magic Carpet assisting, I aligned my glidepath with the meatball and let pressure off the stick. Next time, I switched the augmentation on as I rolled out of the constant-bank turn onto final. My biggest challenge was understanding the symbology on the head-up display and looking for the “meatball,” the visual glidepath guidance system. Indeed, the F/A–18 is easy to fly-during the day when everything’s working and no one is shooting at you. With coaching from outside the sim by James “Buddy” Denham, a senior engineer for the Naval Air Systems Command, I managed to snag the 3 wire without Magic Carpet on the first try. “The F–18 is the easiest airplane to fly, easier than a Cessna,” promised the longtime general aviation pilot as we headed for the simulator. David Kindley, the Navy’s F/A–18 and EA–18G program manager, was on hand to show how easy it is to land an F/A–18 Super Hornet on a carrier. Our chance a couple of weeks later to experience it ourselves, though, was less dramatic, my Bonanza touching down on Patuxent River Naval Air Station’s 11,800-foot Runway 24 (see “Waypoints: Logic: So Overrated,” October 2016 AOPA Pilot). Navy’s Magic Carpet augmented flight control system trials aboard the USS George Washington was abrupt, the aging Grumman C2 Greyhound slamming onto the 1,092-foot flight deck, catching the 3 wire. We try our hand at ‘flying’ the Super Hornet
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