00X/004 future nuclear CATOBAR carrier thread
- Thread starter AETHER
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I think it is just the aft part of the island which is at a lower height because it has yet to be built up (the island overall is mid-construction).
Considering the position of the island on the mockup flight deck is quite aft (even keeping in mind there is some additional rear/aft flight deck left over which is not included in the mockup), it would be unlikely that this would represent a conventionally powered aircraft carrier, therefore it would be odd for the island to have a chimney/exhaust.
Edit: I'm not convinced that represents a chimney/exhaust, but it does seem that the overall length of the island is a bit longer than that of Ford or initial estimates of its suspected island length. I suppose we will need photos taken from the ground, or satellite photos of the island complete, to make a better determination.
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IMO this does in fact look somewhat like the chimney structure on the 003 with the cross inside and all that stuff. The island is pretty massive for a CVN tbh
The Island at the location is hard to understand for any kind of carrier that handles arrestor hook recovery. You are significantly reducing the space to land, unless you expand the aft width and its going to potentially cause wind changes for pilots right where its least wanted. Not that I am a carrier designer, but I don't understand the reasoning.
Makes complete sense, moving the island back would mean much more frontal deck space which is important. Look at the Ford compared to Nimitz. Type 004 is expected to mirror Ford's island setup
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Unlikely.
- The location of the new island superstructure mockup is much closer to the stern end than before. No major warships will have their main conventional propulsion engines situated this close to their stern ends.
- We also have procurement announcement on the renovation of the Huangjiahu carrier mockup structure, which includes the dimensions of the base of the island superstructure mockup at ~20 meters long. For reference, the Ford's island superstructure is about 18 meters long at its base, whereas Fujian's island superstructure is about 34 meters long at its base.
Also, compare and contrast the top-down view of that Huangjiahu island superstructure mockup (left) and Fujian's island superstructure (right):
If that "chimney-looking" structure at Huangjiahu is indeed a chimney, then it would represent a massive step backwards from the designer of Fujian's efforts at making the island superstructure as short as possible in order to maximize parking spaces on the flight deck.
I certainly don't think this is the case here.
Hence, that "chimney-looking" structure is more likely to be either a scaffolding structure, or part of that crane structure (which is photographed being "angled" rightwards of the island superstructure mockup).
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In addition to @Tomboy's explanation - The width of the angled landing strip on aircraft carriers is pretty much fixed from the get-go.
Besides, all carrier-based aircraft pilots are trained to aim their planes' nose at the centerline of the landing strip during BAR operations, with their aircraft wingtips not protruding outside the outer edge lines of the landing strip. This means that any aircraft with wingspans that are any wider than the landing strip are banned from operating from aircraft carriers.
Hence, moving the island superstructure closer to the stern has no impact on the width of the angled landing strip on aircraft carriers.
not a chimney, just a temporary structure, don't worry
