Oh man, look at those cavemen go...
 

Just imagine if we had spent the costs of this and the ongoing [it'll be ready with some more £x10^8] F35 program on say something inspirational for the nations youth.....something that actually makes money into the bargain..

https://smarthphonechoise.com/wp-con...es-735x400.png

Defence need a massive shake up?

No it needs a bootstrap restart from the very top down.

This SpaceX success story must be the biggest and best PR advert ever. You gotta give it to Elon Musk, he has cracked a very very big nut and has just opened the gateway to major competition now that Musk has done all the hard work for them.

Very best wishes to him and EVERY success for transforming the way we do things.

Just look at that picture - says it all.

If the Tesla is in a near vacuum, how come the tyres don't explode?

Gladrag,

I understand your sentiments completely but...

A bootstrap normally requires a hardware forced reset of the memory address register to point to a location which has a low order value. After which, execution of progressively more complex routines take the operating system memory address into higher order memory space.

In other words a bottom up process. :ok:

IG

you'd be surprised at how many pressure retaining structures don't catastrophically fail when they only see another 15psi differential,,,,,,

Who said the tyres were left inflated before launch? Tyres have very rigid structure and as long as they aren't keeping the weight of the car off the ground they will happily hold their shape.

:ok: It's been a while...

If you think the UK is the only one having carrier development problems, here's a report from Bloomberg on the USS Gerald R Ford - currently due to achieve "initial combat duty" in 2022, and at least 3 years behind schedule. Apparently they now want to delay 'shock testing' the ship for 6 years.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...tliest-carrier

airsound

matter of judgement really - you could extend a Nimitz, or take the risk that the test will either damage something (or worse) show some basic flaws or hope the Chinese don't carry out the testing for you for free before 2025

Interesting to see the US issues, although I'd argue that the UK isn't having carrier development problems, because everything seems to be going to plan at present. Huge, complex prototype of a ship and the main issue to emerge in contractors trials was a dodgy propshaft seal, quickly fixed. RW trials currently under way on schedule, FW trials on schedule for later this year as planned.

Sea trials in Biscay while it was on it’s way to Gib.
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-an...d-in-qe-hangar

And a run ashore.
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-an...s-in-gibraltar

On HER way.....

And even if she were an it, Brat, your first line should read on its way, not on it's way.
PEDANT off

Thanks for the links, though! Great pic of a Chinny overhanging the edge of the lift. That would have been quite difficult with lifts in the middle of the deck.

airsound

WEBF,

IT is a 65,000 ton collection of steel, alloys, plastic, systems and fluids, crewed by males and females.

So just why do you think it is female? It does NOT have a gender!

Tut tut... you have to ask the ship for the right pronoun to use.

George K Lee,

Of course, how true, and very remiss of me!!

Centuries of nautical tradition is that ships are female. The linked pages from the RN site use terms such as 'she' and 'her'.

If you struggle with that, you'll love the fact that Prince of Wales will be a she too :). Perhaps they're better described as trans - in keeping with the times...

The opposite is true in French.

so the RN are happy to be referred to as 'she' and you make exceptions that crabs and some WAFUs are 'he' - seems fair to me for a force that says 'It doesn't count after more than 2 days at sea' ducky;)