F/A-18C Procedures

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The following sections describe standard operating procedures and recommendations that are valid only for F/A-18C.

Considerations

Operating Altitudes

• A fully fueled and heavily armed Hornet can have problems climbing to altitudes above 30000'.
• 25k' is often more than enough for a strike ingress.
• CAP racetracks are most confortable at 26k' - 30k'.

Ordnance

• Use ATFLIR instead of Litening, as the ATFLIR (IRL) is carrier compatible and the Litening is not.
• Do not use AGM-65F (Infrared Maverick) and AGM-62 Walleye in modern missions as those were phased out in the 90's.
• Double ugly loadouts (carrying 1 centerline tank and 1 wing tank) is very common. The wing tank should be on the right wing, in order to not obscure TPod (which sits on the left cheek station) line of sight.

Capabilities

Fuel

• Max Flighttime (aka Max Endurance, or Max E) is generally flown around 250 kts IAS.
• In Max E, the Hornet burns around 1200 lbs of fuel every 15 minutes.

Procedures

Overhead Break

• Deploy full speed brake and cut throttle to idle.
• Pull around 1.5G-2G.
• In the break, immediately when speed goes below 250 kts IAS, lower landing gear and full flaps.
• Ideal lateral separation from the runway (and course line) is 1.5 nm.