Is anyone watching.......

[STEMO]

......In at the deep end? HMS Queen Elizabeth sea trials tonight in part two. It's one fickin big boat.

[Shackeng]

Yet still only two thirds the Nimitz class!

[STEMO]

Yet still only two thirds the Nimitz class!

What struck me, Chris, was the age of the junior crew members (some of them making their first trip to sea). They look like frightened school kids but, I'll bet, by the time it's ready for action, they'll be.......well, ready for action. 

[biggriffin]

Guessing only poor hard up pensioners, can afford to watch it, not on my 5  channels.

[Viral_Jim]

Yet still only two thirds the Nimitz class!

Been lucky enough to see these "in the metal" twice; once in Hong Kong and once in San Diego. Awe-inspiring both times!

[Mr Gav]

Yet still only two thirds the Nimitz class!

Been lucky enough to see these "in the metal" twice; once in Hong Kong and once in San Diego. Awe-inspiring both times!

I went round the USS Nimitz in a boat when it was anchored off Portsmouth when I was a kid with my dad, it was frickin huge 

[STEMO]

Guessing only poor hard up pensioners, can afford to watch it, not on my 5  channels.

I'll keep it simple for the..........simple. It's on number 2, that's the one between 1 and 3. 

[Rods2]

Guessing only poor hard up pensioners, can afford to watch it, not on my 5  channels.

I'll keep it simple for the..........simple. It's on number 2, that's the one between 1 and 3. 

Radio 2 it is then.

[BazaJT]

Yep been watching this-at last a decent programme worth watching.A lot of state of the art stuff and a crew of only 700 where the Americans have crews in the thousands.I was surprised that the upper deck guns they test fired on tonights episode aren't radar guided or something instead of being "hand held" as it were and aimed seemingly by eye.First thing I thought when they said she went to sea with 200 civilian workers aboard for finishing work was "Shades of Prince of Wales when she sailed with Hood to find Bismark" but no doubt plenty of ships have sailed with "civvies" on board.

[STEMO]

Yep been watching this-at last a decent programme worth watching.A lot of state of the art stuff and a crew of only 700 where the Americans have crews in the thousands.I was surprised that the upper deck guns they test fired on tonights episode aren't radar guided or something instead of being "hand held" as it were and aimed seemingly by eye.First thing I thought when they said she went to sea with 200 civilian workers aboard for finishing work was "Shades of Prince of Wales when she sailed with Hood to find Bismark" but no doubt plenty of ships have sailed with "civvies" on board.

It's a fickin floating disaster area, nothing works.  Put out of action for weeks by a stray lobster pot. Hope Vlad wasn't watching, he might go for it with a whole string of pots. 

[BazaJT]

Is it only us that'd invest all that time,effort and money in building an aircraft carrier and not have any actual aircraft to put on it?Pretty much like building a battleship without the guns.

[Kevin Wood]

Is it only us that'd invest all that time,effort and money in building an aircraft carrier and not have any actual aircraft to put on it?Pretty much like building a battleship without the guns.

I could lend them a glider if they want...

Oh, hang on. BAE says it'll cost another £100Bn for the glider winch option.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Yet still only two thirds the Nimitz class!

What struck me, Chris, was the age of the junior crew members (some of them making their first trip to sea). They look like frightened school kids but, I'll bet, by the time it's ready for action, they'll be.......well, ready for action. 

Do you find that police officers are looking younger these days?.

I'm the same age as Ms.Dick.........which is an ironic name for a woman who prefers something other than dick.

[STEMO]

Yet still only two thirds the Nimitz class!

What struck me, Chris, was the age of the junior crew members (some of them making their first trip to sea). They look like frightened school kids but, I'll bet, by the time it's ready for action, they'll be.......well, ready for action. 

Do you find that police officers are looking younger these days?.

I'm the same age as Ms.Dick.........which is an ironic name for a woman who prefers something other than dick.

I can't really say, I haven't seen a police officer for a couple of years.

[Rods2]

Is it only us that'd invest all that time,effort and money in building an aircraft carrier and not have any actual aircraft to put on it?Pretty much like building a battleship without the guns.

The UK has taken delivery of 14 F35Bs so far and they are still all in the US as the pilots are being trained there at the moment. The carrier landing and take-off trials will start this year. The pilot skills required for carrier operations are more demanding than virtually any other type of flying, so at about $100m an aircraft taking their time to get them fully operational is perfectly reasonable.

The UK going for the VTOL version with the carrier having no catapults or arrestor gear is also sensible considering the size of our defence budget and the amount of additional training required for this type of operations. Russian carrier attrition rates shows what happens if you don't have sufficient regular training, where they lost two aircraft in carrier accidents during their short Syrian deployment.