Carrier Operations

Departure

Case I: Make a clearing turn after launch; this turn should be to the right if you have been launched from a bow catapult and to the left if you have been launched from a waist catapult. Proceed straight ahead paralleling the BRC (base recovery course, i.e. the magnetic heading of the ship) at 500 feet until you reach a distance 7 nm from the ship. Aircraft are then cleared to climb unrestricted in visual conditions.

Case II: Make a clearing turn after launch and proceed straight ahead paralleling the BRC at 500 feet until you reach a distance 7 nm from the ship. At 7nm, turn to intercept the 10-nm arc, maintaining visual conditions until established on the departure radial (a radial is designated as the line pointing down a compass bearing away from a given point). The 500-foot restriction is lifted after 7 nm if the climb can be continued in visual conditions. Maintain 300 knots airspeed until visual flight conditions are reached on top of the overcast.

Case III: A minimum launch interval of 30 seconds shall be used between aircraft. When possible, a 60-second interval will be provided when launching a jet aircraft following a turboprop. Climb straight ahead accelerating at 300 knots crossing 5 nm at 1,500 feet or above. At 7 nm, execute turn to fly the 10-nm arc until intercepting the departure radial. The first aircraft of each flight shall report to departure control “passing FL 180” if not on top of the cloud cover. Unless operational necessity dictates otherwise, the departure controller shall assign aircraft that are on instruments an appropriate altitude; for example, with four aircraft expected on the same departure radial, altitude assignments would be as follows:

1. First aircraft — FL 220
2. Second aircraft — FL 210
3. Third aircraft— FL 200
4. Fourth aircraft — FL 190

The following voice reports are commonly used during Case III departures:

• Airborne
• Passing 2,500 feet
• Arcing (i.e. turning onto the 10nm arc)
• Established outbound (on assigned radial)
• Popeye, with altitude (“Popeye” is brevity code for a pilot indicating aircraft flying in clouds or an area of reduced visibility)
• On top, with altitude
• Kilo (“Kilo” is brevity code for a pilot indicating the aircraft is mission-ready).

Departures in Jane’s F/A-18 are a strange combination of all three cases. All 4 catapults are used at the same time, regardless of weather or time of day. AI do not perform clearing turns, nor do they form up on the 10-nm arc. In general, departing aircraft will fly straight ahead for a period of time, then turn to proceed to their first waypoint. You can get your wingmen to join on you faster by issuing the “rejoin formation” command from the Flight Comms menu (TAB) after they are airborne. There is no briefed departure radial and no ATC deconfliction of airspace.

Departure comms loosely follow the above Case III procedures at all times. Your pilot will call “airborne”, “passing two point five” (although in the sim it is a reference to 2.5nm from the carrier, not 2,500 feet), “arcing” (despite the fact that no aircraft turn onto the 10-nm arc), and “outbound”. An exchange then takes place: your pilot says “up for checks” and the strike controller responds “sweet and sweet, continue outbound”. This is roughly equivalent to the “kilo” call made in real life, as it signifies that your aircraft is ready for the mission. Strike will then inform you “switching control, contact XXX,” where “XXX” is the callsign of the AWACS aircraft for the mission. In real life the pilot would need to switch the radio frequency at this point. Once the strike controller hands off control, you should proceed with your mission and then return to the carrier. In the sim there are no departure radio calls made regarding the weather.