Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)

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Jeff Head

Jeff Head

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navyreco said:
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INS Viraat, Indian Navy’s sole aircraft carrier, has enough life left and could be in active service at least till 2018.
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And by that time, the INS should have their two new carriers, the
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and the new indegenous carrier,
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.

This will put the INS in a relatively good positions as regards their carrier force, with plans (and at that time well on into construction) for a third, their second indegenous carrier.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

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The USS America, LHA-6 is making good progress on construction. She will be basically a US MArine aviation carrier, built to serve either in the Air assault role for Marines, or the Sea control role.

Here's one of my artist conceptions of the America as she will look once launched and commissioned:

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D

delft

Brigadier
I just remembered how in the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft launch and recovery cannot take place at the same time because of the awkward positioning of the cats. This blunder could be avoided by putting the cats both in the bow, shortening them and combining them with a ramp.
Of course EMALS is being designed so that it cannot be so used because otherwise it would endanger the prospects of USN's most expensive toys. Similarly adapting the F-35C to use such cats will be more expensive than the UK can afford.
 
navyreco

navyreco

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delft said:
I just remembered how in the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft launch and recovery cannot take place at the same time because of the awkward positioning of the cats. This blunder could be avoided by putting the cats both in the bow, shortening them and combining them with a ramp.
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So the dozens of qualified engineers who worked on the design alone comited a "blunder" lol ok
 
bd popeye

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
I don't know how the PLAN plans on conducting flight ops or how the RN plans to use the QE2 class CV..but as far as simultaneous launch and recovery of aircraft for the USN..this does not occur frequently. The main time you will see this sort of flight operation is during carrier qualifications. At that time generally only the starboard bow catapult is in use.

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Delft is correct about waist catapults obstructing flight operations. Not always but sometimes they do..

When the USS Midway was re-fit from 1966-70 the single waist catapult was removed.

I posted this sometime ago regarding a statement about having 4 catapults ..

His comment

With a large number of aircraft spotted on deck at any given time either the bows or the angle will be crowded so it helps to have at least two cats available. I imagine deck routines on the Midways and the Essexs must have been a little more awkward due to the need to clear the bows for launching as they only had the two cats forward.
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my answer..

This all seems possible on paper but it just does not work that way. I was on CVA-19 and CVA-41. Also CVA-67 & 66. And the mighty Nimitz.. A person would think that "well our ship has four cats and that little old Hanco*k has only two ergo can out launch them". Nope. Does not work that way. In my experience CVA-19 & 41 could launch aircraft faster than any of those other ships with 4 cats. Why? Superior flight deck crew in the case of the Hanco*k and a simple case of the A-4's being so reliable. If an A-4 was on the cat it was going off the bow. Period. And A-4's being smaller were easier to handle.

On the Midway the case was a superior flight deck crew as on the Hanco*k. . The Midway's flight deck was unique. It was as large as a CVA-59 class but had only two cats. When you respot with only two bow cats on a deck that big no need to worry about blocking the angle. The respot is much faster. Just leave room for the helo.

There are all sorts of factors that occur when you have 4 cats. For one thing usally only three of the four cats will be in operation. Depends on the number of aircraft being launched.

Say an aircraft breaks down on the port bow cat. You have to re-spot it somewhere. And believe you me when you do you will disrupt those waist cats. If that happens with two bow cats you just turn the aircraft around and spot it on the angle or elsewhere without much disruption of the launch.

During "Desert Storm" in 1991 the Midway , with only two cats, launched more stories than the other 5 USN CV(N) on station. I.E. Kennedy, America ,Ranger, T. Roosevelt & Saratoga.
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navyreco

navyreco

Senior Member
delft said:
The influence of political and/or bureaucratic masters can be pernicious.
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Agreed but the matter has been discussed times and times again on many discussion boards and it always came down to "It is so rarely used so why bother" (as far as RN and MN are concerned).
As BP Popeye put it "this does not occur frequently".

Now I am still wondering however: If you gonna have only 1 cat on the bow, why put it on the port side and not on the starboard ? All navies operating carriers like to park their planes on the starboard side of the bow mainly. Why is this? In case of a "bad landing" is the starboard less exposed than the port side maybe ?

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Production on HMS PRINCE OF WALES, the second Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier, has started today at BAE Systems in Portsmouth Naval Base – the future home of the Queen Elizabeth Class.

Work on the forward section of the hull, known as Lower Block 02, commenced as Commander-in -Chief Fleet Admiral George Zambellas cut the first steel in a ceremony at the company's production facility. The huge section, which will weigh around 6,000 tonnes upon completion, will house the ship's machinery spaces, stores and switchboards, as well as some of the accommodation, including 85 cabins.
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D

delft

Brigadier
Agreed but the matter has been discussed times and times again on many discussion boards and it always came down to "It is so rarely used so why bother" (as far as RN and MN are concerned).
As BP Popeye put it "this does not occur frequently".
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In the case of F-35 it happened quite clearly and perniciously.
I would not be surprised if EMALS is designed in such a way that it cannot be adapted to an LHA with a moderate ski ramp and would be surprised if any documentary evidence of interference regarding this matter were to turn up in say fifty years ( btw I wouldn't be around at that time ).
 
bd popeye

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
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The drawings of hangar decks on CV with all those aircraft crammed in there tickle me. Because as someone that actually served on CVs I can tell you that ain't gonna work.

1) You need room to move those aircraft.
2) You must have a fire lane in case of a sailor greatest enemy arises..FIRE!

All those aircraft jammed in that hangar are a hindrance to safety. However this picture is better that most I've seen.

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