Anyone know what “Roger ball” is and what “being called” means?
There was a big discussion when this was dropped. The consensus was that when a jet was going to land on a flat top the flight controller would tell him to ‘call the ball’. IIRC, there are red and green balls (for port and starboard) the pilot sees to line up for the landing, he radios the controller, ball acquired and tells which color. Hope that makes sense.
Anyone know what “Roger ball” is and what “being called” means?
Pilots landing on an aircraft carrier call the ball. Which helps guide them to a safe landing. A visual acuity device.
“Roger call the ball” directed to the pilot on final approach.
Means its up to him now.
In the concise radio dialog, when a fighter jet is “in the groove” (i.e., 15-18 seconds to touchdown) to an aircraft carrier the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) onboard will say to the approaching aircraft, “Call the ball.”
He is asking if the pilot can see the round orange “meatball” on the Optical Landing System (OLS). If he can, the pilot simply says “Ball” and the LSO responds “Roger ball”. A few seconds later the fighter jet is on the deck.
So Q is referring to “things” being on plan and in the final stages.
The Landing Signals Officer (LSO) say, "Call the Ball." When the pilot can see the (meat)ball he replies, "Roger Ball."
Here is a short 2:50 video on Flying the Ball.
WWG1WGA
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
A quick search brings this up. Interesting, I think.
What does Roger Ball mean?
That is the verbal “roger ball.” This means that the deck is ready for recoveries and you are cleared to land unless otherwise told not to. If you
don’t see it, keep coming, because you may have missed it. Once you cross the wake the first time, the LSO owns you and you do what he says.
What does it mean to ‘call the ball’? - Quorawww.quora.com ›
call the ball. (US) When landing on a US aircraft carrier: to sight the lights from the multi-colored optical landing system that shows a pilot to be on the correct approach path or how to correct the approach path.