Originally Posted by HH
WEB - as a number of us have pointed out they're going to have to scrape the barrel to crew just one of these ships on a regular basis!
You have - but you are completely wrong. The ship's company of HMS
Queen Elizabeth is mostly in place already. Also I am not sure what you mean by scraping the barrel. You are aware that it is normal for sailors to leave a ship and join another, or to finish their training and to join a ship. Are you suggesting that those sent to
QE/
POW are less capable than those posted elsewhere?
My comments related solely to the unique issues associated with operating fixed wing aircraft from a ship.
Originally Posted by JunglyDaz
Is the recovery of an F-35 VSTOL largely different to the recovery of a Merlin/Sea King? And launching is hardly taxing, just roll them up to the line and say go!
Well...apart from things like jet blast (after all the F-35B will produce a lot more that Harrier, and simulations showed Jet Blast Deflectors would not do much to help), extremely hot jet efflux, extra sensitivity to FOD, wind over deck..... Which someone is looking into - see
this post from June 2013 on another thread.
The bigger issue is getting everyone else to be ready for a large, busy flight deck. - WhiteOvies
Yes I am aware of exchanges, and I realise things happen that are not in the public eye, but still.....