The difference between Air Force and Navy pilots in one short video
"One is gentle and graceful, and the other is a full-send yeet."
By David Roza | Published Oct 26, 2021 9:22 AM
If you’re an ignorant civilian like me, aircraft landings may look the same across the board. But you can actually tell a lot about an aircraft, and about the pilot behind the stick, just by the way it hits the runway.
That was on full display on the Air Force subreddit on Monday, where a user posted a TikTok video of an F-16 fighter jet landing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, followed soon after by an E/A-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. Though it’s unclear which unit the aircraft belongs to, there’s a big difference between how the two hit the ground and it has a lot to do with how Air Force and Navy pilots are trained.
@combat_aviationist
Airforce landing vs the Navy! why so different? #fyp
♬ Deadwood – Really Slow Motion
First up, the F-16, which takes its time going down the runway before gradually setting down on its landing gear. After 10 seconds and a whole lot of concrete, the Viper, as F-16s are called, still has not set down its nose gear as the jet shrinks into the middle distance.
Then comes the Growler. Like a brick falling out of the sky, the larger jet gets all wheels down immediately after hitting the deck. You can practically feel a whoomph as the jet sends up a cloud of dust and smoke and immediately begins to slow down into taxi speed. Commenters on Reddit took notice.
“Air Force: gotta be careful with the tires … gotta be careful with the tires …. Navy: land the plane, nailed it,” one person wrote in the “Damn that’s interesting” subreddit, where the video was also shared.
https://taskandpurpose.com/mandatory-fun/air-force-navy-pilots-landings-video/
