Fighter Pilot and Landing Signal Officer Communication (http://www.becomefighterpilot.com)

[skadoodlepoodle43]

Marine pilots don't land on carriers...

[jp36045]

@skadoodlepoodle43

Marine aviators have been flying on and off carriers since the beginning of time......

[bd1315]

My point is, I sure hope Mr Rush knows more about how to be a fighter pilot than about how to land on a ship...

[bd1315]

Well, actually an LSO doesn't "guide" a pilot in. They monitor the approach and provide guidance if the pilot begins to get out of safe landing parameters. We call it "control by exception." There is a glossary of radio calls an LSO can use ("Standard phraseology") to help get the pilot back to where he/she needs to be to land safely.

What Mr Rush is talking on is a sound powered phone which is used for communication between certain stations.

[oirarnoknutgib]

Salesman's talk is not welcomed

[bd1315]

That thing that looks like a phone is actually a sound powered phone. You can't talk to a pilot in a jet on it...

[TrueCourse]

@bd1315 So how does the LSO guide the pilot in.... may I ask?

[frogger626]

@TrueCourse Like he said, control by exception. If the aircraft is coming in too high, too low, too fast, or too slow, the LSO tells the crew of the aircraft so they can correct it.

At the end of the day, a carrier landing is trying to land 15 tons of engine going 150 miles per hour on a space as big as a car, and that space is constantly moving. It's nice to have somebody tell you you're a bit low before you find out for yourself.

[TrueCourse]

@frogger626 Thanks frogger... I've been aware of what the LSO does. My question to bd1315 is how then does the LSO communicate with the incoming aircraft? Though the phone looks like a sound-powered phone, it's actually a radio linked to the incoming aircraft. By the way, though I've never been stationed on a carrier but I was stationed on an AOE (fast combat support ship) and I've watched air ops going on during our unrep with the Theodore Roosevelt. What a sight :)