Hands-on approach: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 18:40, 11 February 2024

A hands-on approach refers to landing aboard a battlestar under the pilot's full manual control, i.e. all flight control inputs come from the pilot, not from any automated system. This is a very difficult skill, requiring much practice to master.

There are two kinds of hands-on approaches: the condition three-mode landing, as performed by Lee Adama when first arriving on Galactica (TRS: "Miniseries"); and the high-speed combat landing.

At the time of the surprise Cylon Attack, complacency allows battlestars to routinely use computerized auto-landing systems to network with a ship's controls and guide it into the flightpods. On Galactica, William Adama's orders make hands-on approach the only accepted landing procedure. The uniqueness of this policy is evident from Lee "Apollo" Adama's confusion when he is instructed to land his Viper Mk VII manually (TRS: "Miniseries").

Commander Adama has banned the use of auto-landing systems aboard Galactica because it would expose the computers to vulnerabilities exploited by the Cylons in the first war (such as viruses), part of his no-networked-computers policy to protect against future Cylon attacks.

Captain Lee Adama completes a hands-on approach in his Viper Mk. VII (TRS: "Miniseries").

A typical wireless exchange for a hands-on approach between Landing Signal Officer and pilot might go like this:

LSO: "Viper seven niner one / Galactica, you are cleared for approach ... Speed one seven five, port bay, hands-on approach, checkers green, call the ball^[1]."

Pilot: "Copy. I have the ball."

References

↑ The "ball" refers to the arrangement of crossed navigational lights at the lip of the landing bay, and/or the 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.

[1] The "ball" refers to the arrangement of crossed navigational lights at the lip of the landing bay, and/or the 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.

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-As is quite obvious, all pilots need to land. As the saying goes, "What goes up, must come down."
+[[Image:Viperapproach 104 1080i.jpg|thumb|200px|The ''ball'' shown in the -+- configuration {{TRS|Act of Contrition}}.]]
-What matters for a Colonial pilot is ''how'' they land, given the many kinds of spacecraft used in the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]]. Some of the hardest of these ships to fly are the vessels of the Colonial military. Since landing on a [[Battlestar (RDM)|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 <b>hands-on approach</b>, or manually controlled landing.
+A '''hands-on approach''' refers to landing aboard a [[Battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] under the pilot's full manual control, i.e. all flight control inputs come from the pilot, not from any automated system.  This is a very difficult skill, requiring much practice to master.
-[[Image:Handsonapproach.jpg|thumb|200px|Captain [[Lee Adama]] completes a hands-on approach in his [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] Mk. VII. (Credit: Sci-Fi Channel)]]
+There are two kinds of hands-on approaches: the [[Action Stations|condition three]]-mode landing, as performed by Lee Adama when first arriving on ''Galactica'' {{TRS|Miniseries}}; and the high-speed [[combat landing]].
-On battlestar ''[[Galactica]]'', a hands-on landing is the only accepted landing procedure. The policy confused pilot [[Lee Adama]] when he was instructed to land his [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] Mk. VII manually. Chief [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] noted the landing policy to Captain Adama ([[Miniseries]]).
-There are two kinds of hands-on approaches: the [[Action Stations|condition three]]-mode landing done by Lee Adama when viewers first meet his character in the [[Miniseries]], or a high-speed [[Combat Landing|combat landing]] into the [[flight pod]].
+At the time of the surprise [[Cylon Attack]], complacency allows battlestars to routinely use computerized auto-landing systems to network with a ship's controls and guide it into the flightpods.  On ''{{RDM|Galactica}}'', [[William Adama]]'s orders make hands-on approach the only accepted landing procedure.  The uniqueness of this policy is evident from {{callsign|Apollo}}'s confusion when he is instructed to land his [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] Mk VII manually {{TRS|Miniseries}}.
+Commander Adama has banned the use of auto-landing systems aboard ''Galactica'' because it would expose the computers to vulnerabilities exploited by the Cylons in the first war (such as [[Cylon computer virus|viruses]]), part of his no-networked-computers policy to protect against future [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] attacks.
-[[William Adama|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 a [[Cylon]] [[Virus|virus]] (a tactic used in the first [[Cylon War]]). As it turned out, Adama's policy of keeping ''Galactica'' free of networked computers such as an auto-landing system was a key factor in ''Galactica's'' survival during the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]].
+[[Image:Handsonapproach.jpg|thumb|200px|Captain [[Lee Adama]] completes a hands-on approach in his [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] Mk. VII {{TRS|Miniseries}}.]]
-A typical [[wireless]] conversation for a hands-on approach between the [[LSO]] and a pilot named "DeadMeat" might go like this:
+A typical [[wireless]] exchange for a hands-on approach between [[LSO|Landing Signal Officer]] and pilot might go like this:
-:'''LSO:''' "Green light for hands-on approach. DeadMeat, call the ball."
+:'''LSO:''' "[[Viper 791|Viper seven niner one]] / ''Galactica'', you are cleared for approach ... Speed one seven five, port bay, hands-on approach, checkers green, call the ball<ref>The "ball" refers to the arrangement of crossed navigational lights at the lip of the [[landing bay]], and/or the 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.</ref>."
-:'''DeadMeat:''' "Copy. I have the ball."
+:'''Pilot:''' "Copy. I have the ball."
+{{clear}}
-"The ball" refers to a series of lights going from the back of the [[Landing bay|landing bay]] to the front. The pilot uses these lights to adjust his/her speed for a smooth landing. The phrase "I have the ball" confirms that the pilot is aligning or has aligned his ship's angle of attack and speed for a proper entry and landing.
+== References ==
+{{reflist}}
-Captain [[Aaron Kelly]] is the [[Landing Signal Officer]], in charge of all flight operations on  ''Galactica.''
 [[Category:A to Z]]
-[[Category:RDM]]
 [[Category:Technology]]
 [[Category:Terminology]]
+[[Category:RDM]]
+[[Category:TRS]]
+[[fr:Approche manuelle]]