Harry Andreas wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
I know the USMC pilots on the Guam for the tests back in '73 and '74
weren't too keen on cross-deck taxying when the anti-skid coating was
worn, as the Iwo Jimas had a rep for rolling. They would have
preferred a turntable at the after end of the flight deck, similar to
the ones on the vehicle/tank decks of LSTs etc, that would allow them
to taxi all the way aft and then be rotated 180deg. into t/o
position. But in addition to the extra cost that involved lots of
weight at flight deck level and dependence on complicated machinery
exposed to the weather, so it didn't feature in the final SCS design
(of which Pd'A is an slightly stretched version).
Guy,
other (good) comments notwithstanding, "complicated machinery
exposed to the weather" doesn't cut it. This type of machinery had been
used for decades on the surface fleet, exposed to the weather, with
little if any problems. Think gun turrets.
Harry, gun turrets are enclosed, with the turret rotation mechanism
protected to a greater extent than would be the case with a flight-deck
turntable (and yet they still jam or malfunction). In addition, ships tend
to have multiple gun turrets, so failure of one doesn't mean total loss of
capability. For much the same reason of redundancy, a/c carriers usually
have at least two elevators. Of course, as long as a/c could still make a
U-turn on their own, malfunction of the turntable wouldn't cause a total
loss of capability, just a slowdown.
The weight issue is probably the deciding factor. Probably made the
ship too stern heavy.
I think trim was unlikely to be the issue; stability (adding weight up high)
was most likely to be the main factor, possibly requiring an increase in
beam.
Guy
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