IMO they are doing the cat-tests first and in fact it makes no difference if sea-trials will start in late 2023 or a few weeks later in early 2024.
CV-18 Fujian/003 CATOBAR carrier thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
IMO they are doing the cat-tests first and in fact it makes no difference if sea-trials will start in late 2023 or a few weeks later in early 2024.
Here's hoping that Fujian could get her own 35s launched off her flight deck before the Ford could do with their own 35s...
That's going to be a phenomenal sight to behold XD
I think that's almost certainly going to happen, Carl Vincent upgrade to be able to handle F-35C took 17 month.
What's different between launching F-35C and F-18s? Or are the upgrades only for F-35C maintenance requirements?
Would be so funny to see the mockup getting launched !
A steam catapult has pre-set launch capacities matching aircraft of various types and weights. It is realized by Capacity Selector Valve (CSV). For F-35 new combination of valve openings must be tested and adjusted, then new settings on the control console may need to be created which may lead hardware changes. This takes time. EM cat on the other hand is changing of software parameters, nothing physical.
In theory, isn't that just because the valve is designed for mechanical control, not inherent to steam vs. EM?
I don't understand the question. That valve is a thing of steam cat only, it is to control how fast and how much steam is channeled to the steam piston. EM cat doesn't have it.
I don't know all the details of the inner workings of this particular valve, but why wouldn't you be able to vary the pressure/volume of steam by computer control if the motor is controlling the opening/closing (ie open 80% for F-18, open 90% for F-35)