Anyone want an aircraft carrier? If so, I have a bridge that is available for sale without the ebay fees...

I always wanted the aircraft carrier for my GI Joes, maybe I could pick this one up instead!

The aircraft carrier is the easy part. It's feeding, clothing, and caring for the GI Joe's that's the hard part.

Speaking of eBay.. I finally "used it" for the first time ever, last night. (no, I'm not recently arrived from Jupiter, but rather not resident in the USA where eBay and so many other USA-centric sites are much more accessible).

Saw a nice 1600x1200 laptop for a decent price, with the seller living within 20 minutes of our place, and managed to snipe a bid in the closing 5 seconds to nab it! Quite the exciting time, all in all -- I can easily see how people would become addicted to it rather quickly!

Cheers

For those of you who missed it, see here.

If only it came with a couple of F-16s. Might be worth buying then.

If only it came with a couple of F-16s.

F-16's are USAF. For a carrier, you want navy craft, like F-18's.

Of course, who knows if the catapult or landing system are even still functioning... "As is, where is..."

F-16's are USAF. For a carrier, you want navy craft, like F-18's

Oops

who knows if the catapult or landing system are even still functioning...

Pesky neighbors make good test subjects

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=5311742

F-16's are USAF. For a carrier, you want navy craft, like F-18's.

It appears to be British. The last time we had proper carrier aircraft, I believe that they were F-4 Phantoms.

I take it you don't think the Harrier is a proper carrier aircraft, then?

(I think I see what you're saying: Proper carrier aircraft must launch from a catapult and land with a grappling hook, whereas harriers cheat. True, but I think the harrier is a really cool aircraft. )

Proper carrier aircraft must launch from a catapult and land with a grappling hook, whereas harriers cheat.

I find it ironic that the British invented all of the stuff that makes an aircraft carrier work (steam catapults etc.) and that we don't use any of it anymore.

The smaller carriers that we do still have (Ark Royal, Invincible and Illustrious) are fine for battle group and beach head protection, but they're not a great deal of use for anything else.

I guess the assumption is that if we're going to get involved in a proper war, the US will be with us, and they'll bring along some proper carriers.

Interestingly, apparently during the Falklands conflict, the US offered to "lend" us a proper carrier "on the quiet". We declined.

True, but I think the harrier is a really cool aircraft.

Oh, I agree. I just think that for proper force projection, you need bigger, faster aircraft with longer legs. The Harrier is superb at what it does. I just think that the Royal Navy should have more options.

If that link has accurate photos, then the aircraft carrier in question is the Minas Gerais, formerly the HMS (and HMAS) Vengeance.

The current HMS Vengeance is a Trident class missile submarine.

Pesky neighbors make good test subjects

Supposedly, the US Navy used to occasionally launch VW Beetles from the catapults for testing (or possibly just because they could). Can anyone confirm or deny this? If it's true, does anyone have any photos/video of said event?

In reply to:

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F-16's are USAF

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Not to get picky, but the Navy does have quite a few F-16's. They use them for training new pilots to fight small agile fighters. But I don't think they have the equipment to land on a carrier or take off from one, so your point still stands.

How about that French carrier that can't support a fully loaded fighter? hehe

A follow-up. Apparently, this auction wasn't quite that silly!

So did it actually sell ? It looks like the auction has been removed. What would the ebay fee be on 90 million