US Navy Pilots In Training Will Now Make Their 1st Carrier Landing In An F/A-18 Or F-35

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Breaking from a tradition that is decades old, the US Navy has decided to change the way that its student pilots prove worthy of the ‘Wings of Gold’ that designate them as carrier-qualified aviators. There are several underlying factors that have contributed to this major shift in doctrine, but the result is that the first time a new Navy pilot will ‘catch the wire’ on an aircraft carrier will not be until they have already taken the controls of a frontline fighter jet. In the past, a Naval pilot in training to fly one of the ‘tailhook’ fighter jets or…

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