2007-01-15 14:39:58 · 6 answers · asked by hooterman97478 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
Even in this day of high-power aircraft and catapults, aircraft carriers still prefer to steam into the wind during takeoff and landing operations.
The carrier itself also typically speeds up to give as much wind along the length of the flight deck as possible. Big carriers can do about 32 knots flat out. I think they typically steam at about 25 knots for air ops.
Carrier landings are EXTREMELY dangerous and every extra knot of wind speed helps the pilot and improves their chance of survival or a good landing.
Carriers don't ALWAYS steam into the wind. If they don't (usually because of tactical or geographic reasons) then they increase their speed to give the most headwind they can.
2007-01-15 14:58:41 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is already answered and I agree with two of them.
Where I disagree, Nukes don't 'usually' go as fast as they can, in fact they almost never go as fast as they can, they go at a fast reasonable speed, so around 30kts, give or take, depending on conditions.
Why not go flat out? Well they do eventually consume their fuel and generating more power does consume it faster, higher speeds also stress the carrier more, both in the hull and in the machinery, so you back off a bit and have a carrier that lasts a lot longer. Many drag and stress laws are squares and cubes, so by going at half of their ultimate speed wear rates and stress will be cut 2-8 times. Roughly. There's always more to it than the simple answer allows. Doing 50kts+ into a heavy sea could end your carrier right there and then.
2007-01-16 04:15:39 · answer #2 · answered by Chris H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Generally, as fast as it can into the wind. An aircraft must, at all times, maintain a certain speed through the air (speed of the air over the wings) or stall, or fall out of the sky. This is why aircraft always land into the wind--it reduces the amount of power required to maintain a certain airspeed to keep flying. The faster the carrier goes into the wind, the greater the windspeed the aircraft is headed into, and the less power required to keep the aircraft flying. This leaves more power available in case of emergency or if the landing must be aborted.
2007-01-15 23:08:44 · answer #3 · answered by Bruce Woody 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Logic would say it would turn into from the wind so that it would be heading in the same direction as the plane landing on the deck, and the plane would be landing into the wind. The speed of the carrier would be subtracted from the ground speed of the aircraft and the wind speed subtracted from that. The faster the carrier could go the better, but the relative speed of the aircraft on touchdown would be so much greater than the carrier as to make the ship's speed almost immaterial.
2007-01-15 22:48:33 · answer #4 · answered by Kokopelli 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The true speed of an aircraft carrier is classified. Released information that is made available to the public puts the usual speed for the nuke carriers at about 40 to 50 knots. That would be roughly 45 to 55 miles per hour. I happen to know that for the carrier Enterprise, for a maximum speed run, the conventional oil fired escort vessels were given a head start of 2 days, and she easily caught and passed them.
2007-01-15 23:08:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
They are "full speed" to generate as much wind across the deck as possible
The Navy publishes speeds of the current fleet as 30+ knots.
In an emergency,( or if the capt wants to) they can do more than that . How much more is classified.
2007-01-15 23:10:22 · answer #6 · answered by cherokeeflyer 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋