At any rate, get set up on or near the carrier in the "Location" menu, "Special Approach" item or navigate to the carrier using the "Textured Map" by looking for a little square with a "C" in the middle. Be sure that "Draw Carriers" is turned on in the "Rendering Options" screen in the "Settings" menu!
If you select Carrier approach you will be aligned with the glideslope. Don't forget hook and gear down! You might also (quickly!) get full flaps down and reduce your weight somewhat by jettisoning your load... carrier approaches are almost always made at minimal weight.
OK, the "Hook", or "arresting gear" is lowered by pushing a little button labeled "Arrest Gear" in the glareshield. The landing gear is the handle with the three red or green lights by it. There is a button labeled "Jettison" to dump your weapons load to lighten up for the approach, and you can hit the '2' key about 5 times to get the flaps all the way down.
Do all that stuff fast... you need to get the F-4 configured quickly since you are begin started off pretty close to the carrier and you are coming in at about 200 knots initially! (Though you will want to slow to more like 150 knots).
At about 1 mile out you will see the Fresnel lens (or "meatball") on the deck just to the left of the wires. It has a row of green lights with a yellow light in the middle. The Airboss will inform you when to "call the ball" (you need not respond in the sim). You now fly an approach path that keeps the meatball centered. The voice of the Landing Signal Officer warns you of errors in speed, attitude and heading. If the Landing Signal Officer is not happy with your approach he will shout "wave off" at you. Go around and try again. After landing you may select the "carrier cat shot" again or taxi to the left-front catapult to be automatically hooked up for a shot.
The visual glideslope indicator with "meatball" indicates the following:
=>If the center light is above the row of green lights, you are high.
=>If the center light is below the green lights, you are low or swimming!
=>If the center light is right in the middle, between the green lights, you're on glideslope like you should be.
The trick to the carrier landing is:
=>Keeping the plane aligned laterally with the extended
centerline of
the deck. (Do this with heading, of course)
=>Keeping the airspeed low enough that the nose is aimed
a bit up from
the horizontal, at a nice positive angle of attack. (Do this with pitch)
=>Keeping the velocity vector of the HUD pointed right at
the
touchdown zone on the deck. (Do this with pitch and throttle).
=?Keeping the meatball centered. (Do this with throttle)
=>Keeping all the these parameters centered until you crash
into the
deck. There is no technique to landing on a carrier other than keeping
these parameters perfectly centered until you impact the deck and let
the arresting gear take care of the rest.
We are assuming, of course, that you actually catch the arresting
gear. Sometimes you won't! In that eventuality, you actually need to go to full throttle
right BEFORE touchdown so that the engines are spooled up for the "bolter"
or go-around in the event you miss the wires! Of course, you do not know in advance
if you will miss the wires, so you should go to tull power right before every touchdown
so you will be able to "touch and go" off the edge of the deck and bring
it around for another pass. It is a good workout to go round and round with the arresting
gear up, doing bolter after bolter around the traffic pattern!