Posted on 10/07/2009 7:16:55 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Italy's newest aircraft carrier like a son-captain
By Jo Winterbottom
LA SPEZIA, Italy (Reuters Life!) - Italy's newest aircraft carrier is a pretty big baby. But the Cavour's captain sees his ship as exactly that: a son growing up before his eyes.
"I saw the ship growing day by day. So I feel it's like a son," Captain Gianluigi Reversi told Reuters in a recent interview aboard the 27,500 tonne ship.
The Cavour is docked at La Spezia while it undergoes maintenance following a year of tests, before it goes into full service probably some time in 2010.
Reversi became captain in 2005, when the ship started to be built, and will hand over to a successor next year.
"I have followed each step and I know every part, all the hidden angles," he said. He also had the 545 strong crew to train on the new ship.
"I will give the captain who follows me not only a body but a body with a heart and a brain," Reversi said.
Last week, that body was flexing its muscles to move journalists on board for the launch of Fiat's Punto Evo model.
The press conference was raised en bloc from the hangar to the 220 meter (yards) long runway deck by the massive lifting platform that normally hoists aircraft or helicopters.
The Punto Evos then showed off their turning circles on the deck, which is 34 meters wide, and came to a halt facing journalists with headlights on under a star-struck sky.
Dinner in a marquee pitched on the deck was followed by an overnight stay in one of the carrier's cabins, which usually sleep four crew but hosted just one reporter each.
The slimmed down staffing -- Italy's only other aircraft carrier, the 30-year-old Garibaldi, has up to 800
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
interesting. thanks
How are things going with electric catapults these days? I thought they were supposed to be installed on the USS Ronald Reagan, but have heard nothing more about their existence and use.
They’re not installed on USS Ronald Reagan ... I think they’re supposed to show up on the next one.
Not sure.
And a boatload of Marines.
Sorry, but the Cavour-class boats cannot carry many kinds of fighters. You may have 4 boats instead of 1, but they are far more vulnerable... and each requires a fleet of support ships. The Nimitz-class ship requires only one group, not 4, costing far less.
Keep your Cavours. I'll take a smaller number of Nimitz carrier groups any day.
Awwwwww, isn't it CUTE!
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
The only requirement for inclusion in the Navair Pinglist is an interest in Naval Aviation.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
And bureaucracy.
Look up LPH, we don’t need mini-carriers as we already have them.
No such animal as a Stennis class boat.
The rest of your post is crapola too.
The reason for the ramp is that it allows a Harrier to get airborne with more fuel and ordnance than with a flat deck.
Wrong.
A.A., have I ever said how much I enjoy your way with words?
As for the guy so enamored of UCAV’s ...
Aw, hell. It’s pointless, these people are so clueless.
This is the Britisih style. The “ski jump” is used to launch Harriers.
I don’t think that would work for an E2-C
No. Not at all.
YOu are really pushing it. For centuries various Italian municipalities opposed Rome. Many sided with Hannibal, for instance. Many history books makes an explicit differentiation between Romans and Italians. I am not even bringing up Grecia Major in the south and Cicily.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.