what are you flying? some plane's gear is more tolerant than others

1. Is your tailhook down ?
2. Are you hitting the arrestor cable area ?
3. Are you on the glideslope and therefore keeping the Meatball green ?

Cheers
Karol

I'm using the "aicarrier program and just love it. I haven't tried the default f-18 as I only use WWII props and NO tailhooks. It's much more fun. 

I maybe wrong here , but I think that the approach has to be within certain limits both of being aligned with the centre line and the glideslope .
the glideslope will be in the vicinity of 3 to 3.5 degrees.
The Meatball is green when within approach parameters.

Unable to test as I do not have AIcarriers , I only use the freeware Nimitz and Carriers 2006 .

Cheers
Karol

nnd816 wrote on Nov 18^th, 2012 at 5:13pm:


I didn't know about the fuel thing,

and the gear doesn't break, testing with crashes off show that after it plows it's nose into the deck it's fine.
could you explain what "alpha" is?

The following is from a file available here at at simviation under FSX Military  titled F/A-18 combat version.
I highlighted in bold a bit about smoother landings , it might be of use.
I have not tried it as I no longer use the default F/A-18 ,
I only use the F-111 , F-14, and the VRS superbug for Carriers.

Cheers
Karol

This is the Acceleration F/A-18 Hornet equipped with 20mm M61 cannon and a fully functional air-to-air gun mode found in the real F/A-18. With the two radar modes, the two gun sights and the flying tracers, the virtual dogfight will be very similar to a real one. You will not be able to shoot down other aircraft, but you will receive an immediate indication on your HUD if a bullet hit the bandit. The flight model is unchanged from the Acceleration F/A-18 except for allowing manually controlled flaps and reducing the arresting wire tension for smoother carrier landings. The HUD is an upgrade of the Realistic F/A-18 HUD by Jivko Rusev and Scott Printz, which allows ILS and TACAN navigation for aircraft carriers. You will also get a couple of additional gauges - an In-Flight Refueling Gauge, PLAT Camera and a Carrier Landing Gauge. By Jivko Rusev.

..reducing the fuel to 30% certainly makes a big difference and I am now able to land the F18 without ploughing the flight deck with the nose! Helps with the Tomcat also. Nice spot.
Zaphod

Hey there, if you already have FSX Acceleration, I highly recommend downloading the 2012 FSX Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet.  There has been many changes, adjustments effects, and upgrades done to it to make it a more realistic flying aircraft and to enhance carrier operations.  It can be downloaded for free at either one of these  links.
Simviation:
javascript:openWindow('download-file?file=2012_FSXBA_FA18_Hornet_12.3.1-1.zip&fi
leId=41171', 800, 400);void(0)
FSX Blue Angels Website:
http://www.fsxblueangels.com/hornet%20dowload%20template.html

Also, I highly recommend downloading and installing VLSO.  This Virtual Landing Safety Officer program provides a highly detailed and accurate landing safety officer that talks you down to the carrier deck as it would happen in real life.  It even keeps track of your graded passes and provides a detailed debrief of your approach.  It's also free and more information can be found on the FSDreamTeam website at: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=4915.0
The actual download link is http://www.gamefront.com/files/21688080/vLSO.zip

If you are new to carrier operations, and want to quickly grasp the basics of trapping aboard the boat, take a look at this carrier landing tutorial called "OK-3".  Great informative and instructional video.  Here is the link for that video.
http://vimeo.com/2950519#

Last thing, there are a few multiplayer servers that dedicate their time to carrier operations.  For this area, I recommend checking out SandPro's FSX Carrier Ops server.  Good people there and great for newbies wanting to get their feet wet.

Hope this helps.

-Jimi