The flight deck of an Aircraft Carrier is where planes take off and land. The short runway makes it difficult for a pilot to land on the aircraft carrier. There are already examples that a landing can go badly wrong.
While landing on an aircraft carrier, the pilot often says “I have the Ball.” What does this mean?
An Optical Landing System that provides information on the glide path to pilots during the last phase of the landing procedure on an aircraft carrier is referred to as a "ball,". Navy Pilots often say, “I have the ball, " indicating that they can see the signals given via the Optical Landing System.
In its developed form, the Optical Landing System comprises a few interconnected elements, the most notable of which are the lights employed in providing visual cues to approaching aircraft, the light control system, and the mounting system.
The mirror landing aid was the first optical landing system, and it was one of the numerous technologies created in the United Kingdom following World War II that revolutionized the construction of aircraft carriers. The other two features were the tilted flight deck and the steam catapult.
The mirror landing aid was a gyroscopically-controlled concave mirror on the port side of the flight deck. There was a row of "datum lights" in an emerald green color on either side of the mirror. The aviator who was about to land was able to view the "ball", that was created by shining a strong orange "source" light into the mirror. The ball's position in comparison to the datum lights indicated the aircraft's position about the desired glide path. If the ball was above the datum, it indicated that the plane was high; if the ball was below the datum, it indicated that the plane was low; and if the ball was between the datum, it indicated that the plane was on the glide path. A consistent glide path was achieved due to the gyro stabilization system's ability to compensate for the flight deck's movement caused by the waves.
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