# Aircraft Carrier Landing question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582 "2008-11-13T19:39:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/1 "2008-11-13T19:39:11Z")
Hi, I’ve seen at least two movies that showed planes landing on aircraft carriers. Some of the radio chatter included the words “call the ball.” Does anyone know what this refers to? Thanks, SMM ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/2 "2008-11-13T19:42:07Z")
You’ll hear that in some episodes of _Battlestar Galactica_ as well. It refers to a light mounted on the carrier used to help the pilot get lined up properly for his landing. There’s more to it than that, and I’m sure a pilot type will be along shortly to provide more detail. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/3 "2008-11-13T19:51:56Z")
To sight the red light that shows a pilot to be on the correct approach path is to ‘call the ball’…the ball being the light. It a request via a radio transmission to a pilot requesting that he report when he has sighted the ball during approach to the carrier, or the action of reporting same. Typically consists of SIDE NUMBER, aircraft type (to ensure proper ARRESTING GEAR settings), and amount of fuel onboard in thousands of pounds, e.g. **‘205 Tomcat ball, 3.5’**. (lost the link where I got this very last part) ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/4 "2008-11-13T20:05:32Z")
Is that the same as the “meatball” ? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/5 "2008-11-13T20:24:31Z")
Yes. See the 6th and 7th items on [this page](http://science.howstuffworks.com/aircraft-carrier4.htm) for what the system looks like. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/6 "2008-11-13T20:38:33Z")
[Wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_Landing_System) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/7 "2008-11-13T21:37:09Z")
Damn, I served on a Carrier and I didn’t know that. Of course I was an engineer not an Airedale. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/8 "2008-11-13T23:20:29Z")
The light beams are narrowly focused so that if you can’t see what you’re supposed to be seeing, then you’re in the wrong place. They used to use hand signals until the late '40s, when the increasing landing speeds of modern aircraft meant you couldn’t react in time. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/9 "2008-11-14T05:46:08Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > The light beams are narrowly focused so that if you can’t see what you’re supposed to be seeing, then you’re in the wrong place. > They used to use hand signals until the late '40s, when the increasing landing speeds of modern aircraft meant you couldn’t react in time. Nitpick: I’m pretty sure that the “meatball” system wasn’t introduced (by the Royal Navy) until the mid-1950s. That said, the introduction of jet aircraft did lead to some modifications to make the Landing Signal Officer more visible from a greater distance. For one, the LSO used larger paddles; for another, he had fluorescent/reflective strips attached to the arms of his jumpsuit. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/10 "2008-11-14T07:36:15Z")
Before they introduced the Meatball, they used a variety of other systems too, including a curved mirror that let the pilot see the plane in relation to the carrier deck, IIRC. They also have a similar system to assist pilots in landings at land-based airports, since undershooting and overshooting a runway at an airfield has similar end results (the plane crashes or simply fails to land, only now with dirt instead of water.) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-carrier-landing-question/472582/11 "2008-11-14T07:55:24Z")
Fresnel lights are used at airports for visual reference of the proper angle of approach. Runway lights serve as reference for left/right alignment. Cockpit instrumentation provides the glide slope farther out.