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A typical [[wireless]] conversation for a hands-on approach between the [[LSO|Landing Signal Officer]] and a pilot named "DeadMeat" might go like this: | A typical [[wireless]] conversation for a hands-on approach between the [[LSO|Landing Signal Officer]] and a pilot named "DeadMeat" might go like this: | ||
:'''LSO:''' "Green light for hands-on approach. DeadMeat, call the ball." | :'''LSO:''' "Green light for hands-on approach. DeadMeat, call the ball<ref>"The ball" might refer to a series of lights extending from the back of the [[Landing bay|landing bay]] to the front, or a visual cue on a cockpit display (as seen in [[Louanne Katraine|Kat's]] Viper in [[Act of Contrition]]). The pilot would use this to adjust his/her glideslope for a proper approach into the flight pod. The phrase "I have the ball" informs the LSO that the pilot has acquired this visual cue and is beginning the final approach. This is in keeping with Ron Moore's parallels with real-world naval terminology; an actual "ball" is a fresnel-lensed lamp that a pilot would see as a floating light against a reference line (called a "datum"), which would show the pilot if he/she was over or under the proper glideslope path.</ref>." | ||
:'''DeadMeat:''' "Copy. I have the ball." | :'''DeadMeat:''' "Copy. I have the ball." | ||
Captain [[Aaron Kelly]] is ''Galactica'''s LSO and in charge of all flight operations on the ship. | Captain [[Aaron Kelly]] is ''Galactica'''s LSO and in charge of all flight operations on the ship. | ||
Revision as of 01:29, 14 August 2007
Since landing on a battlestar is a very difficult feat requiring much practice, it seems that almost all battlestars opted to make landings easier through a series of computers that form an auto-landing system. Before the surprise Cylon Attack, the two choices to land on a typical battlestar were by automatic landing or a hands-on approach, meaning a manually controlled landing.
On Galactica, a hands-on landing is the only accepted landing procedure, as per William Adama's orders. The policy confuses Lee Adama when he is instructed to land his Viper Mk. VII manually (Miniseries).
There are two kinds of hands-on approaches: the condition three-mode landing preformed by Lee Adama when first arriving on Galactica (Miniseries), or a high-speed combat landing into the flight pod.
Commander Adama has banned the use of auto-landing systems aboard Galactica, probably because it would involve the networking of computers that would send data to a ship's autopilot and guide it in for an automatic landing. Commander Adama had maintained (or renewed) the policy of non-networked computers on Galactica in the event of a new Cylon attack. Such automatic systems could be easily infiltrated by Cylon viruses (a tactic used in the first Cylon War).
A typical wireless conversation for a hands-on approach between the Landing Signal Officer and a pilot named "DeadMeat" might go like this:
- LSO: "Green light for hands-on approach. DeadMeat, call the ball[1]."
- DeadMeat: "Copy. I have the ball."
Captain Aaron Kelly is Galactica's LSO and in charge of all flight operations on the ship.
- ↑ "The ball" might refer to a series of lights extending from the back of the landing bay to the front, or a visual cue on a cockpit display (as seen in Kat's Viper in Act of Contrition). The pilot would use this to adjust his/her glideslope for a proper approach into the flight pod. The phrase "I have the ball" informs the LSO that the pilot has acquired this visual cue and is beginning the final approach. This is in keeping with Ron Moore's parallels with real-world naval terminology; an actual "ball" is a fresnel-lensed lamp that a pilot would see as a floating light against a reference line (called a "datum"), which would show the pilot if he/she was over or under the proper glideslope path.