Gannet on the Ark

[DaveB]

Yup.. such an innocent phot but one with so much to offer (darned good it is too) ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[basys]

Hi Folks

Just to clarify.

I'm certain the landing has already fully happened,
just not released the wire yet.

Confirmation for me
is the 2 puffs of 'smoke' from the trapped wire,
and
the displacement of the next wire
by the front gear.

HTH
ATB
Paul

[DaveB]

Yep.. completely agree. Noticed the white 'puffs' when I first looked at it. He's landed and come to a stop just as the phot was taken.

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[SkippyBing]

Agree he's caught the second wire, although I don't think it's fully out yet as it's not running straight from the spools. I've also got a feeling the third wire isn't there at all. If it was it should be under enough tension to catch a plane so the front gear would only push it down on to the deck. Obviously I've got no direct knowledge of this, it's mostly based on hours of watching DVDs of flight deck action on the Ark while I was making the model. I've also read accounts by FAA pilots where they mention wires may be missing though damage making them unserviceable.

[basys]

Hi Folks

Skippy -
Also I've no experience of this,
only from the pic.



I don't think the line to the front gear is a shadow
as it's too sharp,
and has no depth to match the wing width.



It is unusual.
particularly given the expected tension on the wire.



Only context I could come up with was -
the front gear,
whilst braking, (locked-up state),
had snubbed that wire,
at it's 'presentation' height,
thus hadn't rolled over it.



HTH
ATB
Paul

[SkippyBing]

Paul,

I see what you mean, put I can't see any sign of the wire anywhere else, plus the front gear doesn't yet seem to be compressed...

[basys]

Hi Folks

Skippy -
I think the gear has already decompressed,
i.e. just prior to hook release.

HTH
ATB
Paul

[SkippyBing]

Actually, having just looked at some video of some landing on I'd say the nose gear is actually about 70% compressed, although that appears to be no indication of what stage of landing the Gannet is at! I would say the landing has a lot further to go down the deck though.
Oddly whilst watching the dvd as some airmen wrestled an oil drum into a catwalk prior to a Phantom landing on there was a mark on the deck that ties in with the position of the one in the photo. I'm guessing it ties in with where the cable ends up at the end of a landing, but I couldn't be 100% sure there the same thing.

[PeteP]

What a fascinating discussion - the last thing I was expecting when I posted this photo. I'm amazed at the observation skills on show - I still can't see some of the things being talked about! Perhaps these slightly higher resolution cropped images will help clarify things.







Pete

[DaveB]

Cheers Pete

I donno if that makes it clearer or less clear to be honest I'd say there's definately no wire on the third position as 1 and 4 are clearly visible being supported off the deck. No.2 is obviously there as that's the one the Gannet has caught. I'd have thought the nose would have been further compressed but will go with Skip's comment that it's down to around 70% so all in all, it still looks very much like it's only a second or two into the catch at most.

Tks again for posting it Pete ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab: