I'll have to confer with my Bug driving friends for some of the specifics of
your question (actual degrees AOA, etc) and bracket response. (My educated
guess is one degree either side).

As to the indexers. On speed, plus or minus 1/2 degree is a donut. When
you're 1/2 to 1 degree fast or slow, both the donut and the appropriate
chevron (green for slow, red for fast) will illuminate. A full degree or
more, and only the slow or fast chevron will illuminate. There are approach
lights on the nose to duplicate this function for the LSO's. Only diff is
that you don't get two lights (extra credit if you know the one aircraft
that deviates from this ... it no longer flies), just a green light for a 1
degree slow and a red light for 1 degree fast.

As to "optimum" AOA, its a function of several factors. A good landing
attitude for hook engagement w/o adverse effects, an AOA that's comfortably
faster than L/D max (so that you don't immediately enter the region of
reverse command power wise), pilot visibility (F-8 drivers, raise your
hand) are foremost.

R / John

wrote in message
oups.com...
FatKat wrote:
wrote:

1) What is on-speed AoA for the Hornet?

Wouldn't AoA vary depending on aircraft weight and weather conditions?

Yes, it would, but I probably wasn't clear with what I was asking. Navy
pilots fly AoA in the pattern, not airspeed. AoA gives a more
consistent picture of the aircraft's state in relation to stall, and
there's one certain AoA that always puts the nose (and thus hook) in
the best position for catching a wire. (This is regardless of weight
and speed.) I'm just trying to figure out what that AoA is. I believe
it is 8.1, but am not sure. The other thing I'm interested in is the
sensitivity of the AoA bracket - is it one degree AoA within the whole
bracket, one degree on either side of the optimum, something else...?
And how do the indexer donuts and chevron correspond, precisely? Is it
a solid yellow donut when AoA is anywhere within the bracket, or do the
chevron/donut combinations begin to appear within (but near the edges
of) the bracket? That all sounds goofy, and these are nit-picky
questions, I know! I would just like to do it right....

Also, are you sure about that documentary? Last night, I was watching
this documentary that started talking about the MiG-25, but showed
footage of the MiG-29.

Yep, I know what you mean, but the part I'm referring to wasn't talk;
it was HUD footage from a Hornet, possibly Superhornet, on final.
(Maybe the superhornet's on speed AoA is different?) Anyway, the on
speed AoA looked to be closer to 6, possibly slightly below. On the
other hand, I have HUD footage from a CF-18, and he clearly lands with
the bracket centered around 8. So who knows... shrug

So many cable shows just mindlessly rehash
simplified versions of books that I've barely watched them at all. The
only ones I could stand were the "Wings of the Red Star", and that was
probably because I hadn't read any books about soviet aircraft.

4) Radar altitude. Is this a switchable thing, or does it show up only
when below a certain altitude, or... something else?

Wouldn't it have to be manual? Did low-flying Intruder pilots use
their radar altimeters over hostile territory in VN?

No idea!