The Hard Deck

摘要

Military Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) training employs a concept called the Hard Deck. The Hard Deck is an artificial altitude below which all training will cease, and the engagement will be terminated. This altitude is usually somewhere between 5000 to 10,000 feet AGL, and is agreed upon before the flight by all participants. When someone goes below the hard deck or gets into an attitude where they know they will go below the deck, the radio call to, "Knock it off, hard deck" is made and the engagement is terminated. ACM is a physically demanding, mentally fatiguing activity. It is the type of flying that is very dynamic with multiple aircraft operating in close proximity. And you are constantly operating the aircraft on the edge of a stall. It is very much like a long cross-country flight or a contest sortie.