foldable wings Blackfish

[sasha013 225]

Is it possible to create a carrier version of the plane that has the ability to fold wings 'alla' Osprey? 

 

Having asked that, even if it were possible, would the aircraft still be considered 'too big' for the USS Freedom? 

 

Also, folded rotor capability for the Ghosthawk and Huron would be a nice addition too. 

[xxgetbuck123 945]

7 minutes ago, sasha013 said:

Is it possible to create a carrier version of the plane that has the ability to fold wings 'alla' Osprey? 

 

Having asked that, even if it were possible, would the aircraft still be considered 'too big' for the USS Freedom? 

 

Also, folded rotor capability for the Ghosthawk and Huron would be a nice addition too. 

 

Would be wayyy too big for a carrier. 

 

GhostHawk and Huron are what I seem Army, or land based Helis, so they wont get folded rotors. 

[dragon01 902]

Yeah, Blackfish is the size of C-130. You can't get much bigger than the Osprey (about 17m long) if you want to fit on the elevators.

[CaptainAzimuth 714]

Well I suppose it doesn't have the same limitations of conventional fixed wing, being the Blackfish is VTOL. But as stated, something that size would never fit into the internal hangar after having landed.

[dragon01 902]

Hangar. :) I'm not saying it can't land on a carrier. In fact, it's perfectly suited for it, needing no arresting gear or a catapult launch bar. However, being too big to fit in the hangar, there's no reason for it to fold. It would take too much space on flight deck, too, even if it could fold its wings. Blackfish on a carrier would come and go, either delivering stuff to it and taking off as soon as it's unloaded, or using it as a refueling point on the way to somewhere else.

[martin_lee 33]

From a RL design standpoint, foldable wing will require some stronger structures, and that means heavier airframe and/or less carrying capacity. If it couldn't fit in, or have no intention to fit in, they wouldn't add such feature.

 

p.s. Didn't know Blackfish is that big, I thought it is an Osprey 

[dragon01 902]

It is big. It can carry a Marshall or four infantry squads. It's a real beast, though IRL its cargo capacity would be rather limited in VTOL mode. Xi'an is closer to an Osprey, carrying two squads or an LSV.

[Strike_NOR 898]

So to summarize, it would not make sense to modify the blackfish for carrier operations due to the arguments raised by the other posters in this thread:

 

• Too big to stow/park on the deck - essentially blocks normal carrier operations.
• Already capable of temporarily landing on the carrier for supply/refuel/transport roles.
• Realistically speaking: Would cost a lot to design, and give virtually nothing in return, seeing that it does not really become more compact and probably reduce maximum takeoff weight and aircraft design role effectiveness.
• I'm really going on a stretch with this bullet, but I assume Bohemia would not prioritize the overhaul of the Blackfish, given it was released with Apex a year ago and, well, combined with the previous bullet points just does not make sense.

 

Either way, I agree that the Blackfish is indeed an "Osprey-ified C-130", hence the gunship version, and as such acts as a medium size cargo aircraft. While it is perfectly capable of landing and taking off from a carrier, it has no business operating from one on a permanent basis.