I'm sure I've read somewhere that at touchdown most aircraft should be on full throttle in case they don't "catch". Is this true?
Zaphod.
Hi there Zaphod,
Yes it's true - we open up the throttles as soon as we hit the deck. As soon as we feel the deceleration (you can't miss it
as the head lunges forward and your shoulders feel like there going to tear the harness!!) we then immediately cut the throttles (sorry - there's no reverse or even beta thrust). If we DON'T feel that, then we can rest assured that the power is spooled right up to afterburner so we can get it back in the air for another shot. Of course, if this happens, we get a grilling by our "judges" because EVERY trap is scored. It's either an "OK" or nothing else! Three non "OK's" and we're back to swabbing the decks. They don't give us many chances to get it right and keep it that way, no matter how high we get in rank, how good we "think" we are, or how many traps we've accumulated in our time in service. I have to wonder, though, when I saw that footage of President Bush (the G.W. one) doing a trap to see the troops off the coast of Iraq, if HE was scored with an "OK".
