Slashdot Mirror
Buy Your Own Aircraft Carrier
Vodalian writes "Distinction as the last surviving Aircraft Carrier built in England for WW II and commissioned as the HMS Vengeance in late 1944, this unique vessel served the British then the Australian Navy as HMAS Vengeance prior to her sale to Brazil In 1956. Undergoing reconstruction and overhaul in Rotterdam from 1957 to 1960 she was commissioned as the Minas Gerais in December of that year. During her service with the Brazilian Navy she was overhauled from 1976 to 1980 completing a 5-year refit in 1981. She was decommissioned on the 16th of October 2001 and is currently for sale."
This goes along with my plans.
1. Change name ti L. Bob Rife
2. Create cable TV monopoly
3. Start own religion
4. Work on meta-virus
5. Buy aircraft carrier
6. Get residents of 3rd world country to do my bidding!
To the people not getting the above reference, go read Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash", in were a decommissioned aircraft carrier is the center of "The Raft", a shitload of floating things, well, floating around, with "refus" (refugees), waiting to get close enough to North America to get ashore to start a new life.
No remotely modern aircraft is capable to land on it?
Wanna bet?
There is one aircraft that not only can take off and land on it, -but- is also the only aircraft that is permitted to take off and land while *any* aircraft carrier is docked in port.
Harrier Jump Jets are reasonably modern as I recall.
With the angled ramp as it is (or even perhaps angled a little bit more) the AV8-B would be able to take off with a minimal amount of fuel and without using the Catapults. If I'm not too terribly mistaken the British are doing that for thier light carrier fleet - harriers included.
Landings would be no problem - at least no more problem than a normal Carrier Landing (controled crash anyone?)
Phoenix
-- Wiccan Army, 13th Airborne Division "We will not fly silently into the night"
Where do you find a large communication node in the middle of the ocean, smarty pants?
HavenCo, operating Six miles off the Eastern shore of Britain, smarty pants.
"This is Zombo Com, and welcome to you who have come to Zombo Com" - www.zombo.com
There are actually two modern fighters that could easily land and take off. One is the Harrier as you mentioned. The other is the Joint Strike Fighter, which also has vertical T/O and landing capability...
For whatever reason, durring construction its hull sat around for something like 5 years for budgetarty reasons. At least 2 or 3 of its sister hulls diddnt get out of the construction phase.