Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: shafer@drynix (Mary Shafer) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Small carrier missions Message-ID: <11762@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 28 Nov 89 04:34:45 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Lines: 39 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Mary Shafer Henry Spencer writes: They [the Argentinian aircraft] were, by and large, operating near the limits of their range. The Harriers were operating at quite considerable range too, however, since the carriers were being held as far east as possible to keep *them* out of easy range of the mainland. I had the pleasure of hearing a Harrier driver who was in the Falklands War speak to the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and also had a chance to discuss the range question with him. The Harriers used "Forward Ground Loitering" with great success. The Harriers flew from the carriers to forward air strips on the Islands themselves. These forward air strips were just steel mats and rubber fuel tanks, dropped off by helicopter. The Harriers could carry a heavy ordnance load since they refueled on the ground and could make short, rather than vertical, takeoffs. They'd sit in alert status and take off when incoming aircraft were reported. After they sortied, they'd come back and refuel. I believe that rearming also occurred, but on a limited basis. (I can't refer to the Proceedings, because there's no written version.) The British also had the advantage of being over "home" territory. He felt that this was an important psychological advantage. BTW, the aircraft capacity of a carrier is determined by what's called the "spotting factor" which is a measure of the deck real estate occupied by a particular aircraft. The standard is an A-7, with a spotting factor of 1.0, and all other aircraft are measured in reference to this. I vaguely remember that the F-14's spotting factor is about 1.6-1.8 and the F-18's is somewhat lower. Spotting factors are measured with wings folded or swept. The F-8 Oblique Wing Aircraft that was seriously proposed a few years ago had a spotting factor of 0.7, which was very important to the Navy. The hangar deck is always too small. Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com