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[karla]

Work is well under way on an American supercarrier. A modern aircraft carrier will suit some of the new jet aircraft that have been released recently and it should give our favourite game a life extension.

The carrier chosen is modern, has a long service life ahead, looks good and should be different from other combat sims. I've chosen CVN-76, USS Ronald Reagan (The Gipper), as my model and plan to get it working in 4.12.2m - and CUP.

Let me know if you're working on a similar model so we can avoid duplication and maybe we could work as a team. There is no target date for completion but with my experience of CVA-31 [https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,46424.0.html] I guess we should be completed well before Christmas.

I aim to develop a model with high levels of detail so the view from the cockpit always has interest and, therefore, superfluous details will be omitted. I will post as she develops.

FEATURES:
large texture maps, deck 4096 x 1024 px
liferafts
curved whip antennae
many minor details
safety netting
flight deck crew
rotating radar
mast and radar detail
enhancing shadows
flight deck static equipment; mules, crane, towbars
jet blast deflectors
long wake
four wires
detailed, varied textures and hues
weathering
opened doors
limited hanger internal view
single model release
two catapults
deck parking
extensive railing
waste waters
walkways additional detail
long distance LOD
limited collision boxes


FOR CONSIDERATION:
elevators up/down option
no underwater details
no glass windows
no smoke (obviously)
no fluttering flags
FLOLS
no night lighting
no parked aircraft
no damage models

[BOYAN]

First I saw the title Nimitz class carrier, then I looked to the left and saw that it was in WIP section by you...and then I screamed like a little girl!! Super carrier in IL2...oh my... Glad to see you back Karla!

What made you choose Ronald Reagan if I may ask? I often wondered which super carrier would be best suited for IL2. Looking at the US naval aircraft we have in IL2 now (F-4, F-18..) and A-6 in the future (Tomcat maybe?), wouldn`t Reagan be a bit too modern? She entered service in 2003, Hornets and Superhornets on board. Nimitz on the other hand entered service in 1975, had Phantoms and Intruders aboard, Hornets later also... 

[Seb]

Great information.
I love aviation board.
Regards and good luck.

[taskf53]

Great i'm a big fan,i use your carriers very often.

[duffys tavern]

Thank you so much. With your experience I know she'll be just swell. Lookin' forward to it.

[SAS~Malone]

awesome!!!!

[KingTiger503]

I glad to See karla is Back, Well, Keep it up.

[karla]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I'll post some images soon.

@Boyan (and anyone else) - let's decide on the actual carrier. I've currently got CVN-73 and CVN-68 on the stocks but I only want to develop one type. I really want as modern a carrier as possible, hence CVN-73, but it should be practical for use in IL-2, as you say Boyan. I think it's important to differentiate the IL-2 game from other games which use CVNs -68, 70 and 74 and so on. Therefore is CVN-69 the optimum? Does CVN-69 Eisenhower have a uniqueness in the game world and realistically take both F-4 and F/A-18s? Let me know.

[BOYAN]

Hey Karla, thanks for consideration! I`ll do some detailed research and report back. But in short, early Nimitz class ships are the optimum. And they do not differ that much compared with the later ships in class, so numbers can be changed to make more ships once you release the single one.

Ok, so:

Nimitz (1975): operations Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom. Also, it is maybe the most `popular` of the class, being the first and named after a legend, starred in a movie, 10 part documentary, and is the oldest in service today. F-4 Phantoms operated from her from 1975-77, when Tomcat replaced it in 1978. Hornets came aboard replacing A-7s in 1991.

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1977): operations Desert Shield, Storm, Deny Flight, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom. No Phantoms aboard.

Carl Vinson (1982): operations Southern Watch, Desert Strike, Desert Fox, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom.

Theodore Roosevelt (1986): operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Deny Flight, Allied Force, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Inherent Resolve

Abraham Lincoln (1989): operations Enduring Freedom, Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom.

George Washington (1992): operations Southern Watch, Deny Flight, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom

John C. Stennis (1995): operations Enduring Freedom, Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom.

Harry Trumman (1998): operations Enduring Freedom, Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, Inherent Resolve

Looks like only Nimitz had Phantoms aboard. Theodor Roosevelt participated in most operations involving Nimitz class ships, didn`t find any evidence of her in other sims... But I only play IL2. Nimitz, Dwight, Vinson, Lincoln, Washington are available in FSX, Stennis in DCS, at least from google searches I did...

On the side note, older classes would be the most suitable supercarriers for planes and periods in IL2, such as Forrestal and Kitty Hawk. Enterprise also comes to mind as the longest serving carrier in US navy (1961-2011). They would also cover the Vietnam war which ended before Nimitz entered service.

[Seb]

USS Nimitz is also being tested F-35.

[karla]

hull and flight deck under construction

We'll go for the Nimitz carrier class and, without any changes to the meshes, I think we can simply change the texture flag numbers to include all up to the Trueman. The Roosevelt sub-class may have external changes but I think they're only minor but from Reagan onwards there are quite significant external changes. So, I'll work on the USS Nimitz CVN-68 and create options to include: Eisenhower, Vinson, Roosevelt, Lincoln, Washington, Stennis and Trueman.

Quite an amount of work has be done and basic structures are well under way. Details such as liferafts are being worked on in parallel; basically there is no linear project plan because some entities need to be well developed to see how it all fits together. Quite a lot of work has been carried out on uv and texture mapping also.

I'm aware of a 255 object limit and 2800 polygon/item limit for the IL-2 game engine - does anyone know if this still applies?

@Boyan many thanks for your advice, I'd rather not model the Midway class (rather ugly to me), nor Enterprise class (not quite right either).

[Seb]

Hi Karla
Wonderful announces its new aircraft carrier.
I do not know if it's something useful to you, but here I posted a video of the test F-35 on the USS Nimitz.
Regards.
Seb

https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,50339.24.html