Re: Aircraft Carrier


When I first read this post a year ago, I was straight away enthralled
by the idea. having built and rebuilt boats in the 70ft+ size, the task
of construction and costs involved in a project like this would be
large, but no where near the six figure sum that has been mentioned. If
you use as an example a 1/9th scale version of USS Essex CV-9 as she
would have appeared circa 1960, the scale version would be
approximately 98 feet long and 21 feet wide on the flight deck and 11
ft wide at the waterline, pretty big you might say, but I know amateurs
who have built 100 ft schooners in their back yard ( a type of vessel a
great deal more complicated that what we are talking about building).
During the construction phase if a builder restricted himself to using
commercial grade exterior plywood and treated pine for the hull,
superstructure and flight deck, costs would be reduced to between
$4000.00-7000.00 (including paint, glue and fasteners) depending upon
the area that you live. Propulsion for the hull would be achieved by
twin units producing between 160-200 hp, either outboards in an
enclosed well or automobile conversions turning shafts or outdrives.
The costs in this area will vary widely depending on your mechanical
skills and choice, but should fall between $2000.00-8000.00 for used
engines in decent condition. The remainder of construction costs such
as electronics, safety and related equipment can be kept to a few
hundred dollars, depending on your will power and frugalness, costs can
easily spiral if you are not careful and refuse to accept compromises
with regards to fitting her out. The main idea remember, being to
construct the simplest possible platform that would be large enough to
launch and recover model aircraft within the proper scale. A hull this
large would also eliminate the need for remote control of the vessel.
The island of the ship would be suffiently large enough to accomodate a
small bridge team and "air boss" and the flight deck big enough to allow
up to a dozen or more deck personel to handle the aircraft during flight
operations (I see volunteers lining up allready). The ship would
displace around 50 tons, therefore no Coast Guard License would be
required to operate it. All in all this is a very doable project for an
amateur, especially if three or four get together and split the costs
and labor.


--
Centaur
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