I know from time to time thre's been discussion here and there on how talented these pilots were
that flew from carriers.
I have said many times I don't know how they did it on the Ark Royal, I came across this old pic of mine
that I thought might interest people to show you the difference in size of the flight decks. This was taken
In Norfolk VA naval base in the 70's when we were docked for a spell for cat repairs.......and we thought
the Ark was huge lol.
Seen that shot before. One of my fellow LH's was a baby RO on there at the time and had this shot up in his MQ (anchor-faced git) It certainly illustrates the comparative sizes between a Brit 'Heavy' carrier and our American cousins interpretation ;-)
She was huge, I went on board her, it was strange looking "down" to the Ark's flight deck. The ratings living quarters were
just as cramped as ours there but much better, they actually had curtains to each bunk, coke machines were everywhere
and they had burger bars, I thought to myself wow this is luxury.
I saw the Carl Vinson sail into Tokyo Bay...what a sight she was, absolutely bloody enormous! Also, sailed passed the USS MIdway off Palawan as she launched an E2-C, with a Sea King as plane guard. Mightily impressive it was to watch.
You've got to hand it to the Yanks when it comes to carrier aviation ( even if they did retire the F-14 ! )
Last edited by Paul K on 19 Jan 2008, 01:10, edited 1 time in total.
It certainly illustrates the comparative sizes between a Brit 'Heavy' carrier and our American cousins interpretation ;-) 
