Catamaran aircraft carriers

[ysi_maniac]

Was this ever proposed? IMO it would be very convinient.

Why there is no one yet?

[jcf]

Multi-hulls offer no advantage for large ships, and a multi-hull aircraft carrier would very possibly end
up being slower because of increased drag.

[kerick]

It's the drag between the different hulls that can cause a problem. Shallow draft sailboat and pontoon boats don't have so much of a problem. Plus their hulls are pretty far apart comparing draft, hull width and hull spacing compared to the Independence class LCS for example. Of cource the LCS is pretty fast.

Of course in whiff world...........

[AeroplaneDriver]

I remember this trimaran idea floating around in the late 90s when concept work started on what would become the Queen Elizabeth Class

Clearly it was a good idea because the world's navys rushed to adopt it. 

[Flyer]

Don't really like the look of the floaty thing in the background, but the aircraft above it looks interesting and I'd like to do a search on it, what is it called please? Looks to have a little bit of F-16XL D.N.A...

[Flyer]

Can anyone tell me what that aircraft is called? I'd really like to know.

[AeroplaneDriver]

Can anyone tell me what that aircraft is called? I'd really like to know.

It's the BAe Figment FG.1

[Flyer]

Can anyone tell me what that aircraft is called? I'd really like to know.

It's the BAe Figment FG.1

Thankyou, but got no search results with that.

[Flyer]

Guess there is enough of an idea of it's shape and layout to go on with that picture. I'd really like to see a 3-view though...

[AeroplaneDriver]

It was never even a paper project. Just a cool painting in a very much "What If" proposal. More of a thought exercise than any real contender. Very cool looking jet though.

[Flyer]

 

[rickshaw]

I remember this trimaran idea floating around in the late 90s when concept work started on what would become the Queen Elizabeth Class

Clearly it was a good idea because the world's navys rushed to adopt it. 

Catamans suffer from twisting movement between the hulls, so they are not great for aircraft carriers.  That particular carrier suffers from an extreme angles on it's flight deck, so extreme landing on would be a real chore.  I would care to try it, personally.

[Steel Penguin]

i think its more trying to get "rule of cool" points,  probably by some one who had no idea how things work....    the Dilbert fan in me shrugs and goe "marketing"

my problem is i keep reading the title of the thread and thinking,  how would a catamaran aircraft work???   the carrier can be just a normal ship,  but how does a catamaran aircraft work...  and normal double ups just dont fit the question / mental image

[Old Wombat]

Not sure about catamaran aircraft, although I'm pretty sure they're a "thing";



But catamaran aircraft carriers are highly improbable because, for any given size of ship, you reduce your overall hangar space by at least 1/3 & the width of your hangars by at least 50%. The air wing would need to be comprised of fewer & smaller (thus less capable & shorter ranged) aircraft. To fit the same size & number of aircraft on a twin-hull ship would require a huge increase in the size of your carriers.

If you do go for a full-width hangar deck on your catamaran carrier, then you have to compensate for the greater mass by making the hulls bigger;
wider = more resistance reducing the speed or requiring larger engines;
deeper = more (though significantly less than above) resistance but much deeper, (further) limiting the harbours available to you for shelter, repairs, etc.

[zenrat]

If big catamarans offered any advantage wouldn't we already have big catamaran cruise ships, tankers, container ships, and floating gin palaces?