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U.S. Navy to Conduct Carrier Landing Practice at Wallops

fclp_crew.jpg
Credits: NASA/ Patrick Black

WALLOPS ISLAND, Virginia – The U.S. Navy plans to conduct both day and night Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) operations Feb. 27 to March 9 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

About 150 personnel – Navy pilots and maintenance technicians – assigned to Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 120 (VAW-120), home-based at Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field, will participate in the detachment operation, the first in 2017.

FCLP provides naval aviators with critical real-world training before landing on an aircraft carrier. Landing on the flight deck of an underway aircraft carrier is one of the most complex and demanding tasks required of a pilot, and conducting FCLP ashore is essential training prior landing aboard the ship. Before any naval aviator, no matter how experienced, can land a fixed-wing aircraft on an aircraft carrier, he or she must successfully complete multiple day and night FCLP periods at a properly equipped airfield.

The U.S. Navy has a long-term agreement with NASA to conduct FCLP training at Wallops for Navy E-2C/D and C-2A turboprop aircraft, to include both detachment and out-and-in operations.