USS Ronald Reagan to dock in Brisbane
THE USS Ronald Reagan, which towers 20 storeys above the waterline, is 334m long and 77m wide, has arrived in Brisbane.
QLD News
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE USS Ronald Reagan, which towers 20 storeys above the waterline, is 334m long and 77m wide, has arrived in Brisbane.
Named after America’s 40th president, the Nimitz class aircraft carrier was commissioned in July 2003 and has been based in Yokosuka, Japan since late 2015.
The flight deck of the nuclear-powered ship is 1.82 hectares (4.5 acres) in size, which is where the approximately 65 aircraft are either parked, or taking off or landing at any time of the night or day at high speeds.
Aircraft attached to the ship, which has been in Australian waters this week as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre, are US Navy F/A 18 Super Hornets, an E-2 Hawkeye, EA-18 G Growlers, MH-60 R/S Seahawk helicopters and a C-2 Greyhound.
Even with ear plugs, a helmet and additional ear protection on, the noise on the flight deck from the mostly hornets taking off every minute or two can still sound like a powerful, giant vacuum cleaner.
A steam-powered catapult system helps launch most aircraft off the ship in what feels like a human slingshot, sending a plane from zero to hundreds of km/hr in mere seconds.
A 22,500kg aircraft can also go from about 240km/hr to zero in about 100m in seconds when landing, thanks to a mechanical cable called the arresting gear, which looks like a bungy-rope version of a brake system.
There can be up to four arresting wires laid out so the pilot has a choice of one to catch on a tail hook.
On top of being a mobile military airport, the USS Ronald Regan is its own floating city, with at least 5000 sailors on board at any time.
About 18,000 meals are served a day in the ship’s three separate mess areas, while the only way between the ship’s many floor levels is to climb a number of ladder-like stairs.
On the ship, the sailors have access to everything from dentists, gyms, a hospital, vending machines to university degrees, as the ship can deploy for up to a year at a time, though more often or not it deploys for between four to six months.
Talisman Sabre is a biennial joint Australia-United States military exercise that started in June.
This year it involves more than 33,000 mostly Australian and US troops, 20 ships and more than 200 aircraft, with the majority of the mock war taking place in and around Shoalwater Bay in Central Queensland.
Bombshell DV crackdown: Dating app bans, forced to share passwords
Domestic violence offenders could be dealt control orders similar to those used for organised crime and bikies under sweeping changes proposed by the Queensland Police Union.
Secret, big-profit investment hiding in your wardrobe
What can give you up to five times the return on your investment as real estate and as much as 10 per cent more than the ASX, and could be hiding in your wardrobe?