re: So you want to be a Carrier Pilot

Landing on a carrier, on a heaving sea in broad daylight, looks tough as heck. The instrument approach makes it a wee bit harder but not too much.

I took up a former Naval Aviator in my Cirrus SR22T. He was a career helicopter pilot who retired about six years earlier, and didn’t fly the last eight years of his career. He had flown fixed wings when he got his wings and he flew a King Air for one year during his service. So it had been about 14 years since he had flown helicopters and about 20 since he had flown fixed.

We took off KNEW and flew to the practice area where he asked for the controls. At 2,000’ he executed steep turns at 45 degrees with rollout at 360. Everything was on the numbers - and I mean RIGHT on the numbers; there was no need for an error margin like they allow me in my flight reviews. Then he landed the plane, not great but acceptable. Any pilot can tell you that’s impressive considering how long since he’s flown.

That’s military discipline for you.