I suspect they will stay alongside for a while to give the crew some leave. She will then sail for system trials (radar, ops room etc etc)

Do you think they're EMCON at the moment due to snoopers? Saying that both radar sets have already been in service for a while, must be strictly sticking to the program as this is the propulsion stage. Also Artisan was going like the clappers when she left Rosyth. I don't think EMCON will be an iss...

She is showing the RAF where 50% of their FE@R will be based in future years! But also she may be holding off Invergordon prior to refuelling - look out for tugs heading up there. Of course if she is due back in dry dock then it is unlikely she will fuel up.

The rust stains are almost certainly due to shot blast residue from another location. I would be amazed if rust was showing through the flight deck surface. Given the rough nature of the flight deck surface it is easy for tiny bits of filings to get caught and then rust which gives an unsightly appe...

Certainly a good looking warship.

Can someone explain to me what are these two stacks at back? What's their purpose?

DG exhaust

Will the Captain take her for a whiz round before going to anchor for the evening?!!!

Don't forget that 2018 is THE big year for the RAF. It is supposed to be the culmination of their 10 year strategic plan and at the moment QE, PoW and the F35 are going to steal the limelight. The press will be all over the carrier programme once QE goes to sea as it is a story made for the mass med...

Almost certainly Capt Kyd but under contract to BAe (nominal sum). He is the only one with big ship experience. There may well be a MoD trials master on board too. This situation has happened before.

But if the money allocated to the 138 F35B programme is used for and F35A purchase then it will most certainly affect the Carrier Strike programme.

It is yet another ploy by the RAF to limit embarked FW capability.

Not sure it was smoke..more likely heat haze from the diesel generators.

QEC is the size she is because that is the size of flight deck required to generate the necessary sortie rate for combat ops. I think it assumes 2 sorties a date for 36 jets.

It will be interesting to see where the sea trials take place....I can't see her coming back under the bridges once she has sailed. How about:

Contractors sea trials Part one - N Sea/Channel
Break - portsmouth
Contractors Sea Trials Part two - SW Apps??

Interesting image of QE - not much tentage or scaffolding left:

My bet is that QE will have to be docked after PW comes out to sort out the hull painting. Might as well change the props (from the brake blades) at the same time. Then proceed on sea trials and delivery. By far the most cost effective option.

Most of us already know the carriers are slightly behind schedule, and that exchange rates are going to mess up orders for US made equipment. The most worrisome thing is the shortages of engineers, pilots and technicians to keep this lot afloat and flying. It is time the MOD and the Treasury realis...

I think 829 Sqn (the small ship squadron) only has 6 Merlin. These aircraft are dedicated to the deep ASW Type23s. All of the rest of the Frigates and Destroyers have Wildcat.

Cdre Kyd might want 72 jets on board but the deck won't be able to sustain such a force. A deck cycle of 72 sorties a day is the basis for the design, including size, weapon supply, fuel supply etc. The 36 +4 he quotes assumes that ASW is provided from elsewhere in the fleet i.e. the Merlins are bas...

I think the design sortie generation rate for the QE Class at max effort was 72 JSF sorties per day. Assuming each JSF flies 2 sorties per day the requirement is therefore 36 jets. Considering the originally quoted frontline strength of the JSF is 4x12 aircraft squadrons, the 36 figure fits (1 squad...

The remarks by the good Air Cdre are typical of the ingrained RAF view that they want as little to do with Carrier Strike as possible. If they can limit the requirement to deploy to only 2 squadrons they will...hence the postulation for F35A. I hope he got a good B****ing from Andy Pulford! The 135 ...

Ron5,

ACNS(Carriers) was there with CAS and the first person to meet the UK aircraft was an RN maintainer.

My question is why has the size of ships got so large for less "tonnage" of weapons and crew? Lots of reasons. Tall and wide main mast; Mk41 launcher capable of taking Tomahawk; Med Calibre gun ammo will take up a lot more space than the Mk8 "bullet"; mission bays for SF; flight...

the real test will be SDSR 2020 when the government looks at Future Force 2030. The ideal situation here will be a further acceleration of the F35 programme to deliver full capability to both carriers, plus the follow on ASAC capability.

Just jumping back to the size of the ships. This is driven by sortie generation rate, not the number of jets that can be accommodated. For QNLZ it is set at about 75 per day I think. A 30,000T ship would not be able to achieve such a rate.

All aboard! Good to see the forum up and running in a similar format. Has CJ followed?