Has to do with what the pilot sees. Looks like a ball, I presume.
Now that I’m sticking my oar in ‘call the ball’ is also used in baseball when a ball is hit in the air and two or more players can probably catch it. One player has to ‘call the ball’ or they’ll crash into each other. Can be very dangerous situation.
:::: Has to do with what the pilot sees. Looks like a ball, I presume. ::::
It does. My understanding is that there are horizontal green lights and vertical yellow lights on the optical landing system that indicate an incoming plane’s positioning in relation to the carrier deck. Further, there are red lights that can be used to warn off a pilot from trying to land at all.
The vertical lights are where the “ball” (simply a yellow light) resides. The horizontal green reference lights show where the ball should be and the ball rises and falls based on the pilot’s distance from the optimum glide path.
A pilot who believes he can land his plane using the landing system as a guide says something like “I have the ball”. If he doesn’t think he can land the plane safely, he invokes the word “clara” to make that clear and the landing signal officer guides him in verbally.
I’m not a pilot but I stayed in a Holiday Inn last night. Haha! Those more expert in this area can correct any misstatements I may have made.