– Field Carrier Landing

Practice, or FCLP, is the

foundation of carrier

aviation, providing fixed

wing pilots with critical

real world training before

going out to land on the

“boat.”

– Before any fixed-wing

pilot, no matter how

experienced, attempts to

qualify to land an airplane

on an aircraft carrier, he

or she must successfully

complete multiple FCLP

periods at a properly

equipped airfield ashore.

– FCLP provides the most

realistic training a pilot

can receive in preparation

for landing an airplane on

the moving flight deck of

an aircraft carrier.

Navy FCLP at Wallops Flight Facility

...had its beginnings with the 

commissioning of Naval Auxiliary Air 

Station (NAAS) Chincoteague on 5 

March 1943. NAAS Chincoteague 

served as an auxiliary airfield for Naval 

Air Station Norfolk. The station had 

three concrete runways of lengths 6,000, 

5,100, and 4,800 feet.

NAAS Chincoteague closed in 1959, 

when NASA took over the facility and 

established the Wallops Test Center, now 

known as Wallops Flight Facility.

Wallops Flight Facility has three active 

runways: 04/22, 10/28, and 17/35, with 

lengths of 8,750, 8,000, and 4,808 feet 

respectively. Routine fixed and rotary 

wing flight training operations may be 

conducted on any of these runways 

dependent on the prevailing winds.

Navy FCLP at Wallops Flight Facility is 

only conducted to runway 10/28.

FIELD

CARRIER

LANDING

PRACTICE

Navy C-2 conducting Field Carrier Landing Practice, 

or FCLP, to runway 28 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility 

Navy E-2 conducting Field Carrier Landing Practice, 

or FCLP to runway 28 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility
Landing an airplane on the moving 

flight deck of an aircraft carrier is 

one of the most complex and 

demanding tasks required of Navy 

pilots...

...one made even more difficult 

when having to land at night.

Field Carrier Landing Practice 

(FCLP) is defined as that phase of 

required flight training that precedes 

carrier landing operations. It should 

simulate, as nearly as practicable, 

the conditions encountered during 

carrier landing operations. 

---Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures 

Standardization (NATOPS) Landing Signal 

Officer Manual---

FCLP pattern airspeeds, altitudes, 

and direction simulate air operations 

around the aircraft carrier

– Pattern direction is left

– Pattern entry is at 800 feet at an airspeed of 

250 knots

– Pattern altitude is 600 feet above ground 

level at an airspeed of 130 - 150 knots

– Pattern is 1.0 - 1.5 nautical miles from the 

runway

– The separation interval between aircraft in 

the pattern is 45 - 60 seconds 

Due to the unique and challenging

nature of landing an airplane on the

700’ x 100’ runway of an aircraft

carrier, FCLP training is always

conducted under the supervision of a

Landing Signal Officer, or LSO.

The LSO is responsible for training,

critiquing, and grading pilots in

proper carrier landing techniques.

Through training and experience,

the LSO is capable of correlating

factors of weather, aircraft

capabilities, and pilot experience to

provide optimum control and

assistance in aircraft landings.

---Naval Air Training and Operating 

Procedures Standardization 

(NATOPS) Landing Signal Officer 

Manual---

Cockpit view of a day carrier landing 

from three-quarter miles behind the ship

Cockpit view of a night carrier landing 

from one-quarter mile behind the ship Landing Signal Officer