Скачать или смотреть How One Engineer's 'CRAZY' Mirror System Stopped Jets From Dying

How a lipstick and a compact mirror saved carrier aviation.
In the early jet age, carrier landings were killing pilots at catastrophic rates—until Royal Navy engineer Nicholas Goodhart turned a makeup mirror into the Mirror Landing System (the “meatball”). This video tells the full story—from Korean War–era crash stats to HMS Illustrious trials, USS Bennington tests, the LSO + optical “integrated” approach, the 80% accident reduction, and how the Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System (FLOLS/IFLOLS) still guides pilots today.

What you’ll learn:

Why jets broke paddle-LSO landings and spiked accident rates

Goodhart’s compact-mirror experiment—the elegant physics behind “fly the ball”

How LSOs + mirror/Fresnel together changed night ops forever

The fleet-wide rollout and life-saving impact (tens of thousands of crashes prevented)

From mirror → Fresnel lens → IFLOLS: the tech that every carrier uses now

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Mirror Landing System explained, meatball landing carrier, optical landing system history, IFLOLS vs FLOLS, Nicholas Goodhart invention, HMS Illustrious landing trials, USS Bennington optical landing tests, angled flight deck vs mirror system, carrier landing accident rate 1950s, LSO integration, naval aviation night landing safety, Fresnel lens landing aid, “call the ball” meaning.

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#NavalAviation #CarrierLandings #IFLOLS #FresnelLens #LSO #AviationHistory #RoyalNavy #USNavy #Engineering #ColdWarTech