RC Carrier Deck

Yellow plane with green stripe on a runway, marked "Jaguars" and "205".

A FUN EVENT FOR CLUBS AND INDIVIDUALS

By Tony Stillman, David Hart, and Rodney Cripps | [email protected] | Photos by Ted Brindle

As seen in the June 2025 issue of Model Aviation.

RC model flying is fun and challenging, as any RC pilot will attest. Our skills in model flying improve every time we fly. When I started flying RC, I became involved in a monthly fun-fly that was hosted by my club and neighboring clubs in the area. The flying events at these fun-flys were so much fun and improved my piloting skills dramatically.

I want to introduce you to one of those fun-fly events, with the idea that your club might want to give it a try. It can be a fun activity on a weekend, or maybe an open event for pilots in your area to test their skills.

Small yellow and orange airplane parked on a tarmac with military insignia. — This T-28 swoops in to try and snag an arresting cable. Each pilot gets three attempts.

Call the Ball

One of the more demanding fun-fly events is RC Carrier Deck. This event simulates one of the toughest challenges in all of aviation: landing an airplane on an aircraft carrier. RC Carrier Deck involves landing an RC model on a rectangular area of the runway (the carrier deck) that is marked using tape or a field marker, depending on whether you have a grass or geotextile/hard-surface runway.

Five strings (arresting cables) are stretched across the rectangle, with small sandbags on the ends of each string to keep the line taut. The strings run through the center of Styrofoam balls spaced every four feet or so to keep the lines elevated off the ground. These lines are 5 to 8 feet apart, with the first line placed 10 feet from the edge of the rectangle that simulates the rear (approach end) of the carrier deck.

Each model is equipped with a tailhook that is attached with a simple hook-and-loop strap around the fuselage. The tailhooks are made on a 3D printer and are specifically designed to fit the E-flite T-28 1.1m from Horizon Hobby. The tailhook assembly has two round, raised knobs that allow it to slip into the matching holes in the rear bottom of the fuselage, thus aligning the hook in the proper orientation.

The hook is designed so that it will break away from the mount in the event that it gets caught on something on the ground. This keeps the model from being damaged. The hooks are designed to be expendable, so keep extras available.

The STL files for 3D printing can befound using the Thingiverse link in the "Sources" section. Full instructions are there as well.

Yellow model plane with "NAVY" text and star insignia on wooden surface. — The tailhook is designed to break in order to prevent damage to the model itf it unintentionally snags an immovable object.

White plastic hook with a black ribbon on wood background. — The 3D-printed tailhook attaches to an E-flite T-28

Toy plane with yellow body, green and orange tail held by a hand with a strap. — 1.1m without modifications.

Yellow model airplane on a table, marked with "NAVY" and stars. — Note the hook-and-loop retaining strap.

Cleared For Landing

Here’s how the event works. The pilot attempts to complete a landing on the carrier deck, with the hook capturing one of the arresting cables. The cables are numbered one through five. The number one cable is closest to the rear of the carrier deck.

Points are associated with each cable, with the number one cable being worth 10 points. Each subsequent arresting cable is worth two fewer points.

Pilots get three opportunities to touch down within the boundaries of the carrier deck. If a pilot lands on the deck and catches a wire, the corresponding points are awarded. If the model touches down outside of the boundaries of the carrier deck, the pilot is considered "in the drink" and is disqualified for that round.

Enlist volunteers to help retrieve the models and get the lines back in position for the next arrested landing. Mark the line positions so that the sandbags can quickly be placed back in the correct position.

In our event, we had a man-on-man competition, where pilots drew numbers and placed them on a double-elimination bracket. The winner of each match moved on in the winners’ bracket, and the loser of each match moved to the losers’ bracket. Flying continued until a winner was declared.

See the sidebar for the complete set of rules that are used by our club. Obviously, you can run the event however you like or just have a fun time attempting to land on the carrier deck and hook an arresting cable.

Simple Rules for RC Carrier Deck

Object: Land on the carrier deck and catch an arresting cable with the tailhook.

Rules:

The carrier deck is defined by the tapeoutlined rectangle.
All landings must be made in the direction designated by the event director.
The cable closest to the rear of the carrier deck is the number one cable and is worth 10 points if you hook it on landing. The number two cable is the next one, and it is worth eight points. Next is number three, which is worth six points; the number four cable is worth four points; and number five is worth two points.
Each pilot gets one line-up pass, and then each subsequent upwind pass will be considered a landing attempt. You have three attempts to catch a cable.
The airplane must initially touch on the carrier deck area. Any touchdown outside of the prescribed lines of the carrier deck results in a "splashdown," and the airplane is considered crashed and cannot continue for that match.
If a pilot so chooses, they can do a "missed approach" and get no score for that attempt and go around. This will count as an attempt but allows the pilot to continue without penalty.
The highest total score for each match advances in the winner’s bracket. The loser goes to the losers’ bracket or is out if it is their second loss.
If neither pilot catches a cable but one was disqualified because of landing in the "water," the pilot who did not land in the water is counted as the winner of the match.
If both pilots land in the water, the first one who landed in the water is considered the loser of the round.
If neither pilot catches a cable or lands in the water, they will fly an additional attempt until one is declared the winner of the match.

Build the Arresting Cables

Twelve yards (36 feet) of flexible floral mesh tubing is run through the center of seven 2.8-inch Styrofoam balls to create each arresting cable. Our project used five arresting cables. A spare arresting cable was also made for any unforeseen issues. Most of the materials are available at Hobby Lobby or Family Dollar.

Materials (quantities shown are for building six arresting cables):

Floral mesh tube (quantity: 6)
2.8-inch (71mm) foam crafting balls (quantity: 21 two-packs)
Sand (quantity: 12)
Canvas bag (quantity: 12)
1/4-inch (6.3mm) polystyrene tubes (quantity: five three-packs)
Hook-and-loop straps (quantity: as needed to create 16-inch straps for each model)
Orange and silver enamel spray paint (quantity: one can of each color).

Arresting Cable Assembly Instructions

Drill 1/4-inch diameter holes through the center of seven 2.8-inch Styrofoam balls.
Cut seven 1/2-inch (6.3mm) polystyrene tubes to 4-inch lengths. Insert and glue (using E6000 or Gorilla Glue) the outside of the polystyrene tube into the drilled holes, exposing approximately 1/2 inch on both sides of the 2.8-inch balls.
Paint the balls and polystyrene tube assemblies, one orange and six silver.
Run the floral mesh tube through the tube of the orange ball and locate the ball at the center of the floral mesh tube.
Secure the ball in place by tying short rubber band or balloon pieces around the floral mesh tube on each side of the ball.
Repeat steps four and five for the six silver balls. Space the balls 5 feet apart on each side of the orange ball. This will leave approximately 3 feet of floral mesh tube on each end of the arresting cable.
Insert a plastic bag of sand into a canvas drawstring bag. Secure the drawstring of the canvas bag and tie it to one end of the floral mesh tube.
Repeat step seven and attach the canvas bag to the other end of the floral mesh tube. Repeat steps one through eight to create all of the arresting cables.

The day of our event turned out to be quite windy, but we held the contest anyway. Landing these little T-28s exactly in a small space is very challenging in itself. Doing it in windy conditions definitely tested each pilot’s landing ability!

Despite the challenges, the event was a lot of fun and everyone really enjoyed it! The landing hooks worked well indeed. Only four or five of them were broken. We had two pilots in each heat, making three attempts each, so many attempts were made during the course of the event.

One Design, Many Benefits

Our club, the Indy RC Modelers in Morristown, Indiana, has a Common Club Airplane Program (CCAP) that hosts events every month throughout the summer. These CCAP events require everyone to fly a stock E-flite T-28 1.1m using a 3S 1,800 to 2,500 mAh battery. The only allowable modification is the arresting hook, which is added for RC Carrier Deck. The addition of the hook moves the center of gravity (CG) back slightly, but we did not find any issues because of the CG change. We have roughly 25 of these T-28s flying in our club.

The club plans to keep this event as part of our program for 2025. Many pilots expressed how much fun they had and that they are looking forward to it again! This program has increased our interest in club activities, and we had plenty of spectators watching our events throughout the year. This is a great way to keep club members engaged and active at the club field each flying season.

Yellow and green toy plane on asphalt with markings. — Blue tape is used to mark the front and sides of the carrier deck. A tailhook-equipped T-28 is ready to give it a go!

Two club members were instrumental in making this activity happen. David Hart and Rodney Cripps worked tirelessly to design and manufacture the required equipment. Lots of tailhook prototypes were printed using David’s 3D printer. Rodney built the arresting cables. The type of cable that Rodney selected was more tangle-resistant than standard nylon string. Both men made several trips out to the field to test both the tailhook and arresting cables.