The Engineer
David Downs FREELANCE
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Island life in the dry dock
22 Apr 2013
A period of intense activity on the Queen Elizabeth has seen many of the major structures and equipment being installed.
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Queen Elizabeth is now a Navy record breaker
28 Jan 2013
With the upper bow section now in place and a mammoth skid of 20,000tonnes of ship, the Queen Elizabeth is now the largest ship the Royal Navy has ever had. And it still isn’t structurally complete.
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The last pieces of the puzzle
15 Nov 2012
With the largest of the modules of the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth on the way to the assembly dock at Rosyth, the whole length of the ship will soon be apparent. David Downs explains how the project is progressing into the latter part of the build phase
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Elizabeth, you're a big ship now
28 Aug 2012
Guest blogger David Downs returns from his holiday to find that Queen Elizabeth has gone from two separate sections to what’s unquestionably a very large dry-docked ship
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Pace quickens on carrier assembly
2 Jul 2012
Within a few months, more than half of the HMS Queen Elizabeth will be assembled in the dry dock at Rosyth, and commissioning of systems can begin. David Downs explains the activity of this busy period.
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Turning steel into ships
19 Apr 2012
While the various blocks of the Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales aircraft carriers continue to arrive at Rosyth shipyard, commissioning engineers are working on the many systems that will bring the ships to life
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Assembly phase reveals Queen Elizabeth scale
1 Mar 2012
As the various component parts of the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier come together, the sheer size of the ship is beginning to become apparent. Meanwhile, the early sections of the second carrier, Prince of Wales, will soon move up to Rosyth.
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Flight deck
12 Jan 2012
Aircraft Carrier Alliance guest blogger David Downs visits the UK home of the F35 project at Samlesbury, where the carriers’ main weapon is taking shape
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Of cranes and catapults
27 Oct 2011
While the Queen Elizabeth starts to come together in dry dock at Rosyth, the team has been visiting the US to look at aircraft launch and recovery systems.
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Queen Elizabeth takes shape
18 Aug 2011
The various enormous parts of Queen Elizabeth, the first of the UK’s two new aircraft carriers, are now beginning to come together in Rosyth, where they will be assembled.
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Change of scenery
23 Mar 2011
Visible progress is now being made on the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, as preparations being to move major parts of the structure to the assembly yard in Rosyth
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Carrier programme accommodates changes
1 Feb 2011
Construction of the two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers is continuing apace, with the design changes necessitated by the Strategic Defence Review underway
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Readying for flight
18 Aug 2010
Our guest blogger on the next stage of the QE Class building programme, as the final shipyard comes into play and the flight deck begins to take shape
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Queen Elizabeth takes its bow
7 Jul 2010
The engineering director of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, which is now building the first of the QE Class aircraft carriers, on the completion of the first blocks of the massive vessel
