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An increasing number of navies see aircraft carriers as viable platforms for projecting national power – presently there are nine countries which have aircraft carriers in service: Brazil, France, India, Italy, Russia, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States. It is interesting that the People’s Liberation Army – Naval (PLAN)- in China does not yet in truth have a carrier in service, though this is expected to change in the near future. The total number of carriers in service global is now twenty two, with half of that fleet being in US service. At least eight nations have new carriers in the concept, design, purchased employed and refurbishing or build phases. Spain has been successful marketing it is ‘Principe de Asturias’ design to assorted navies, and China, Japan and India are developing a carrier build capability – in China’s case, even a nuclear powered platform for it is new generation planes. VTOL (vertical take off and landing) aircraft – the UK Harrier derivatives are employed for example by India, Spain and Italy, has permitted these countries to deploy viable carrier power. The US F35D carrier variant – a STVOL configuration – may only increase demand for carriers amidst ‘western’ countries. Most experts in strategy see the aircraft carrier as a keystone of military doctrine, in spite of the substantial concentration of power and investment (both political and financial) in what is a highly visible and, arguably vulnerable target. Russia presently has only one operational aircraft carrier at present and is an exception. It spans 11 time zones – almost halfway around the world. With a fleet of innovative land-based aircraft and effective missile technology, it may arguably project it is power without the need for a huge carrier fleet, at least in the northern hemisphere. What is an Aircraft Carrier? A floating, self-propelled airbase, altho not capable of handling big transport planes such as the C130 Hercules. This definition is in general taken to include any vessel capable of handling fixed wing fighter/bomber aircraft, of which there are assorted types. For these purposes, we exclude pure helicopter carriers, as even cargo ships may carry these as was the case in the Falklands War. Types of Aircraft Carrier Supercarrier: these are specifically dandier than 50,000 tons loaded displacement, ordinarily nuclear powered, and competent to handle fast jets Fleet Carrier: mid size distinctively 20,000 tons upward, oil/steam, gas turbine or even diesel powered, the ‘typical’ size in a country’s fleet. Light Aircraft Carrier: littler than the fleet carrier. As may be seen, this way of classifying navy aircraft carriers is subjective to a country’s fleet configuration. The French might well describe the Charles de Gaulle as a supercarrier – steam catapults, nuclear powered, but is it genuinely a supercarrier when equated to, say, US aircraft carriers such as the US Nimitz Class George W Bush, of closely 100,000 tons displacement and carrying well over 100 fixed wing aircraft? Carrier Configurations CATOBAR: catapult launching of fixed wing aircraft but arrested recovery. STOBAR: Short take off but arrested recovery. Currently, these have been using the UK Sea Harrier VTOL aircraft in STOVL mode using a ‘ski jump’ launch. STOVL: Short take off and vertical landing. As with STOBAR, but vertical landing. Less beautiful on account of the extra fuel (equals less armament load) necessitated for the landing phase, and flight deck harm troubles due to it is down directed exhaust jet for the duration of landing. Entry Barriers to the Aircraft Carrier Club These may include: Constitutional bars, such as Japan, Germany and (until recently) Italy, following their World War 2 aggression. Operational Capability Development takes a lot of time and money. Second-hand carriers and infrastructure necessaries may be purchased or hired. A new branch of naval operations has to be set up. This is not trivialA major task – training particular spatial arrangements have to be set up and operated, replenishment, fix and logistics operations have to be established, for example, and even a whole career structure for officers and ratings. A country will have to invent it is tactical and strategic policies to efficaciously present and operate it is carriers in line with it is national strategic goals intended to be attained in a creditable way. Even the fundamentals – establishing the 24 x 7 operational tempo of running a carrier have to be developed, enforced and rehearsed exhaustively if the deployment of a carrier strength is to be creditable – bad weather night launches and landing, crew rescue procedures, anti-submarine measures, re-arming and weapons handling, organized carrier shelter – the list is extensive. Some countries cooperate in this respect. For example Brazil is assisting China to formulate it is operational capability in interchange for technical assistance in the areas of nuclear power and defence electronics. Aircraft Carriers – The Future The future of the carrier is assured. The advent of a new generation of STOVL aircraft, and the emergence of India and China into the severe carrier club (with Pakistan also making noises) means that before the mid 21st century, the carrier arms race will be accelerating and world tonnage increasing. Britain is building more prominent carriers – the Queen Elizabeth Class supercarrier. These new UK aircraft carriers will be closely three times the size of their former generation; ‘cast-off’ carriers are progressively being purchased by littler nations, so the operational international tonnage is bound to increase – intermediate annual new build tonnage is higher than scrappage; the US is building a new generation – The Gerald R Ford Class. Countries which have an operational aircraft carrier never relinquish that capability. Electromagnetic launch systems – simpler, lighter, more powerful than steam catapults are being designed. These will be capable to launch unmanned aircraft at G forces which humane pilots could not tolerate. Aerial battles fought by unmanned planes flown remotely by carrier-based (or even land-based) jocks thru secure selective information link are a real possibleness before the end of the century. New carrier-busting missiles such as the Chinese Dong Feng 21D (NATO CSS 5 Mod-4) will lead to intensified defensive engineering developments. Most helpful customer reviews 13 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Looking for a primer on aviation art? Then this is your book!
“How to Draw Aircraft Like a Pro” fills a huge gap in the literature of art instruction by comprehensively addressing aviation fine art.
Frank Wootton published “How to Draw Planes” in 1941. Jim Dunavent wrote “How to Draw Airplanes” in 1973. Both of these books were nice efforts in their day, and have become collectable classics in their own right. Even if they were still in print, they would come far short of addressing the nuances of aviation art as comprehensively as does this new 2001 book.
To be sure, the necessities for producing fine art – composition, perspective, light and shadow, hue, value, intensity and so on, are independent of the subject matter. However, in practice, many people are drawn into the field of aviation art by dint of their passion for flight, rather than an overwhelming passion for art. This book was created to asist and encourage them.
Established fine artists who don’t need the art basics may still find the engineering and aeronautical insights of this book helpful. Consumers of aviation art are among the most demanding and detail driven to be found anywhere. To the “rivet-counters,” fine art is also accurate and believable. There is no quarter given under the guise of “artistic license”. The painting had better be right in every aspect of the story it is representing.
The title itself is a good for getting the right people to pick it up and crack the cover. In truth, the book delivers far more than it promises, especially if you have the two books mentioned earlier. Drawing is the the crucial requisite skill for competant aviation art. It is the skill mentioned first by every master aviation artist who is queried on where to start. It is the also the skill most frequently neglected by the novice, who hopes in vain to shortcut the process by copying a photograph. The text hammers away on the basics of drawing, but also does get into the techniques for how to PAINT aircraft like a pro.
The book is comprehensive and affordable. I found myself wishing for much larger reproductions of the excellent artwork, and for a hard cover in the interest of durability, otherwise I’d have extended a fifth star to the rating.
“How to Draw Aircraft Like a Pro” represents the cumulative lessons-learned of the first great generation of aviation artists, those who have brought aviation art its long deferred recognition as bona fide “fine art”. An aspiring aviation artist could spend years of painting and enduring professional critiques at ASAA Forums to uncover the popular pitfalls of composition and execution one at a time- or they could avail themselves of the collected wisdom in this book.
In summary, this book fills a huge gap in the literature. The artists and the authors did a very credible job of bringing together a huge amount of material on a complex subject.
And they did it just in time for helping to Celebrate the Centennial of Flight 1903-2003. What could be better?
Interested in aviation art? Oh-by-the-way: 8 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Oh, and by the way, what is the plane identified on pages 71, 120 & 121 as a “Kate”? It appears to be a Ki-51, but I could be mistaken. 0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. |
Bravo! Fills a 60-year Gap in Aviation Art Instruction Books
Lots of good stuff, but…
Covers it