Britain now has 2 carriers at sea (almost)

Not a lot of detail but HMS Prince of Wales set off for sea trials today meaning the UK now has 2 carriers at sea.

a reply to: RexKramerPRT

Nice ship.

That was a tight fit!

HMS Prince of Wales: Tight squeeze for 'extraordinary' UK aircraft carrier in maiden voyage

Don't you mean 1 ship with 2 heads?

Two carriers. How many planes?

Don't take offense but I always considered those carriers with the upward swoop to be for sissy pilots! American pilots don't need no sissy take off ramps 😁 The Chinese use them too. It's like training wheels on a bicycle.

originally posted by: LogicalGraphitti
Don't take offense but I always considered those carriers with the upward swoop to be for sissy pilots! American pilots don't need no sissy take off ramps 😁 The Chinese use them too. It's like training wheels on a bicycle.

US aircraft-carriers are nuclear and utilise steam-powered catapults, whereas British carriers are powered by gas turbines and don't have catapults.

It's quite simple really, 🤷🏻‍♂️

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

Although I never saw one in person, I actually think it's somewhat elegant. I have taken off from a "flat top" carrier though, the USS Independence.

a reply to: FlyingFox
I was on the Indy from 84-85 with AirWing 6

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

There are different design philosophies. The primary US carriers are known as CATOBAR, for Catapult Take Off, Barrier landing. This lets the aircraft take off at or very near to their maximum takeoff weight in fuel and weapons.

The US also has STOVL carriers, which is what the Queen Elizabeth class is. They're Short Take Off, Vertical Landing carriers. The planes are much lighter when they take off from them, but they don't require specialized maintenance, or handling in port.

There are other options, but for the purpose of this conversation those are the most important two.

Here we go...
Kind of cool for a civilian.

a reply to: FlyingFox

Mate, that is truly awesome and damn straight it's cool, how lucky can a man get?!

That trip up the Thames on that landing craft as an Army Cadet seems kind of crap now

The Queen Elizabeth returned from trials in the US with a broken F-35 on the deck. She launched it from the dock in Portsmouth, where it flew to Marham to join the others there.

originally posted by: JIMC5499
Two carriers. How many planes?

24-36 planes plus choppers. Im betting it will be close to 24 most of the time and the 36 is a wartime load out, but packing so many in may lead to issues with sortie generation.

The issue with the ski ramp is that they are limited to either STOVL jets (F-35B's) and thus will not be able to embark say an E-2 etc.

Yes, thanks. Truth be told, I impersonated my father to get on the VIP tour.