War Thunder Video Tutorial: Easy Carrier Landing

Post date: Jun 06, 2015 7:55:58 PM

My special technique involves pitching up at the right moment and using the aircraft's momentum to resist the aircraft instantaneous lift and get the hook on the carrier deck.

It's a very quick and snappy process if you're coming in fast, but with this technique, speed isn't much of a concern. You can't rip your tail off because of excessive tailhook stress in WT.

Watch the video through until I switch planes, the second half of the video is just me showing how you would land in a Bf 109 E and a He 112... which strangely catches the chain arrester on the carrier deck with its rear wheel.

• 1. Choose a carrier to land on. It's best to choose the one that's the most far back in the "pack" since you don't need to "go-around" and simply hop onto the next one if you missed the hook arresting chord.

  2. Approach from a safe speed - that is, between 1.2x your stall speed to 2x your stall speed. For the A6M3 in the video, it's between about 80 to 150 knots, and a higher angle than usual of about 10 degrees to 20 degrees.

  3. Aim your "directional vector" (where your plane is flying to, not where it is pointing) to the start of the chords on the carrier deck. If you can't see the chords just guess and learn where they usually are during practice once you're on the carrier and estimate each time. They are usually easy to see with ULQ).

  4. When coming in close, do not pull up gently, but pull up quickly and sharply about 5 to 10 meters for the A6M3 and 10 to 20 meters for the A6M5 above the carrier deck depending on your airspeed and approach angle (steeper angle and higher speed means higher position and hence earlier pitch-up). It is safer to pull up early as you can go-around or hop onto the next carrier rather than splat and exploding/sliding off the carrier. Sometimes, but not always, your hook still may arrest when you're sliding but you may still end up unrepairable. Pulling back sharply ensures your tail strikes the carrier deck before the main front wheels.

Notes:

-You may need to pull back earlier for heavier lift-to-mass ratio aircraft. The height for pull-up is just an estimation for between 10 degrees with 150 knots and 20 degrees with 150 knots for the A6M3 and A6M5. You just need to get a "feel" for it.

-Seafire will damage their tail on the impact. This is normal.

-Hook Arresting Chord on the carrier deck does NOT "reel" you in like a fish on a fishing rod. If you go off the side, you go off the side. In other words it provides deceleration (relative to the carrier) only.

-Unfortunately for the Bearcat and Hellcat, your prop will still hit usually the surface of the carrier deck. regardless if you land like this or smoothly.

-This tutorial is designed for tail-dragger aircraft. Doing this method on tricycle aircraft often ends up with tail popping off.