Carrier Operations

Taxi and Launch

A mission is Jane’s F-18 usually begins with your aircraft sitting on the catapult awaiting launch. Catapults are numbered from 1 through 4, starting from the starboard side of the carrier. Cats 1 and 2 are located on the forward section of the flight deck, and launch aircraft off the bow of the ship. Cats 3 and 4 are located on the waist of the ship and launch aircraft off of the angled portion of the deck. Your aircraft will always start from Cat 2 unless you are in a multiplayer flight, in which case you can be on any cat, or even behind the JBD (jet blast deflector) awaiting your turn to launch.

In real life, F-18 pilots perform a series of steps in the moments immediately preceding a carrier launch. A pilot is required to extend the launch bar, acknowledge the listed gross weight of his or her aircraft, taxi into precisely the proper position so that the launch bar engages the catapult shuttle, release the wheel brakes, place the launch bar switch in the RETRACT position, check the controls and engines, and salute the catapult officer. This last step tells the cat officer that the pilot and aircraft are ready for launch. At night, turning on the navigation lights is equivalent to a salute.

In Jane’s F-18, taxiing is automatically controlled, and the above steps are all accomplished unceremoniously by simply disengaging the wheel brakes (default keystroke “b”). After a few seconds, your aircraft will launch. In both the sim and in real life, the Superhornet launch process is automatic and requires no pilot input.