Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)

thunderchief · Dec 21, 2013

Obi Wan Russell said:
I'd have to disagree with you on that point, the Centaur class and especially Hermes are very capable when it comes to operating jets, but it depends on which jets we are talking about. The Harrier/Sea Harrier is a relatively small and compact jet, Hermes/Viraat is large enough to operate up to thirty of them as well as her helo complement. During the Falklands campaign she averaged an air group of twenty Sea Harriers, ten Harrier GR3s, a sqn of Sea Kings for ASW and served as homebase for a sqn of Sea King HC4s in addition to a couple of Lynx. Currently she has a reduced complement of SHARs simply because attrition has taken it's toll on the number of airframes available to the IN.

Well , not even in the Falklands emergency HMS Hermes could operate 30 Harriers at the same time . Hermes was kept well out of the range of Argentinian aircraft and had maximum of 16 RN Harriers + 10 RAF Harriers (before some losses) . Of course , they couldn't launch them all at the same time . According to descriptions from that war , deck of HMS Hermes was crammed full .

Obi Wan Russell said:
Certainly her half sisters were at a disadvantage in the 1960s, when the average British Naval jet was twice the size/weight of the Harrier and also had to come aboard at high speed rather than hovering alongside. In the circumstances it was understandable that Albion and Bulwark became LPHs, there was a requirement for such ships, the hulls were still new with plenty of life left in them and there were larger carriers in service which could handle the fixed wing duties. Remember Centaur herself remained in the CTOL role to the end, as the fleet's spare deck to cover for carriers in refit, and proved capable, albeit with reduced numbers of aircraft compared to the other RN CVs.

Partially true , but even in the age of Hawker Sea Hawk (lighter then Harrier) they didn't carry 30 of these aircraft . Centaur-class was designed during WW2 with propeller aircraft in mind . They were later modified to serve in jet age , only because it was to costly to scrap them . When we look at British aircraft carriers after WW2 , we could notice that even largest of them (Audacious-class) were in fact WW2 carriers converted to serve in Cold War . As such , none of them was optimally designed for later naval jets , although some of them embarked even F-4 Phantoms II .

thunderchief · Dec 21, 2013

cn_habs said:
Is this for real? Just regular pants and shirts?

Yup , that's the way you do it in real navy

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bd popeye · Dec 21, 2013

thunderchief said:
Yup , that's the way you do it in real navy

Sorry mate.. This is how we do it!

[video=youtube;4gqFVTOClP0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gqFVTOClP0[/video]

The opening intro of Top Gun is just awesome..from the 2:00 on..

[video=youtube;UVRUxtPKK-w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVRUxtPKK-w[/video]

TerraN_EmpirE · Dec 21, 2013

I think that comes Soundly in the Category of TMI pops.

Equation · Dec 21, 2013

bd popeye said:
Sorry mate.. This is how we do it!

[video=youtube;4gqFVTOClP0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gqFVTOClP0[/video]

The opening intro of Top Gun is just awesome..from the 2:00 on..

[video=youtube;UVRUxtPKK-w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVRUxtPKK-w[/video]

I know, I still watch that 'Top Gun' intro now and than.

Jura The idiot · Dec 21, 2013

I only recently noticed this

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the catapult control pod, with the catapult officer in it (I better give a link:

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)

thunderchief · Dec 21, 2013

bd popeye said:
Sorry mate.. This is how we do it!

Well , it wasn't like that in good old times

No steel toes , but men made of steel .

bd popeye · Dec 21, 2013

thunderchief said:
Well , it wasn't like that in good old times No steel toes , but men made of steel .

You got that right.

Old school, United States Navy.

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Two T4M-1's with Torpedo Squadron 2B (VT-2B) pictured on the deck of the USS SARATOGA (CV-3) date unknown. (prior to WWII.)

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Aboard USS Saratoga CV-3 circa 1943

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U.S. Navy aircraft from Carrier Air Group 12 (CVG-12) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) warming up for a strike during the Gilbert Islands campaign. Grumman F6F-3 Hellcats are in the foreground, followed by Grumman TBF-1 Avenger´s and Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless.

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F4U-1D Corsair aircraft of VF-84 on the deck of USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) Korean War

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F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-63 are on the deck of USS Boxer (CV-21) being loaded with bombs for Korea.

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F4U-4 on the U.S.S. Philippine Sea, CV-47, during a carrier strike in Korea taken on August 5, 1950

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Ordnancemen placing arming wires on 100-lb. bombs on the wing of an F4U Corsair on board the carrier Boxer (CV 21). Korean War.

kwaigonegin · Dec 21, 2013

bd popeye said:
You got that right.

Old school, United States Navy.

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back then I think they used the modified Jeep willys to move planes around too. Well that is when one available. Most times you push it by hand! and that's with engines running and the props spinning! Hard core~

BTW read my post a few above about the deck tractor on the Vik! That is unsafe there shipmate! India needs to purchase a couple of new deck tractors!

Air Force Brat · Dec 21, 2013

Obi Wan Russell said:
I'd have to disagree with you on that point, the Centaur class and especially Hermes are very capable when it comes to operating jets, but it depends on which jets we are talking about. The Harrier/Sea Harrier is a relatively small and compact jet, Hermes/Viraat is large enough to operate up to thirty of them as well as her helo complement. During the Falklands campaign she averaged an air group of twenty Sea Harriers, ten Harrier GR3s, a sqn of Sea Kings for ASW and served as homebase for a sqn of Sea King HC4s in addition to a couple of Lynx. Currently she has a reduced complement of SHARs simply because attrition has taken it's toll on the number of airframes available to the IN.

Certainly her half sisters were at a disadvantage in the 1960s, when the average British Naval jet was twice the size/weight of the Harrier and also had to come aboard at high speed rather than hovering alongside. In the circumstances it was understandable that Albion and Bulwark became LPHs, there was a requirement for such ships, the hulls were still new with plenty of life left in them and there were larger carriers in service which could handle the fixed wing duties. Remember Centaur herself remained in the CTOL role to the end, as the fleet's spare deck to cover for carriers in refit, and proved capable, albeit with reduced numbers of aircraft compared to the other RN CVs.

Great Post Obi Wan!

Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)

thunderchief

Senior Member

thunderchief

Senior Member

bd popeye

The Last Jedi

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King

Equation

Lieutenant General

Jura The idiot

General

thunderchief

Senior Member

bd popeye

The Last Jedi

kwaigonegin

Colonel

Air Force Brat

Brigadier