Expert: D. Norkus - 1/19/2007

Question
What does it mean when an aircraft "flares" before it lands? How come carrier aircrafts don't flare?

Answer
Kevin

The landing "flare" is the transition from a nose low or almost level pitch attitude in the cockpit, to a slight nose up pitch so that the mains will touch down first. The nose gear is not stressed like the mains are to bear weight during landing. It is important to land on the main gear first as too hard of a touchdown on the nose gear could cause it to collapse. That is not the case with carrier aircraft.

Carrier aircraft are designed with gear that can handle enormous stress so they can literally be "flown on" to the deck. That also enables them to get the most out of their small landing space as they rely on the arresting wire for their short landing performance. Runway left behind unused is one of the most worthless things to a pilot. Especially when it is so short, like on a carrier, they cannot afford to waste their landing area. There are probably other variables Navy carrier pilots can tell you about. As my profile states, I am a civilian pilot, so I do not have any in depth knowledge about military aviation. For those questions, I suggest going to the message forums at http://forums.military.com/

You might also be interested in some of the landing video clips at http://www.flightlevel350.com

Hope this helps.

Dottie