Clemenceau (R98) — French Aircraft Carrier Model, 36 in
Clemenceau (R98) — French Aircraft Carrier Model, 36 in
How big is it?
Length about 91 cm / 36.0 in. Drawn to scale; the model outline is a simplified shape.
Model details
- Size
- 36 in / 91 cm
- Construction
- Handcrafted
- Condition
- Fully assembled, ready to display
- Display
- Wooden base with brass nameplate
- Collection
- Battle Ship Models
- Item no.
- CM605
The larger edition of France's first home-built carrier, at 36 inches.
Specification
- 36 inches
- Handcrafted hull and superstructure
- Angled flight deck with catapults, arrestor wires and deck markings
- Island, radar arrays, masts and deck aircraft
- Mounted on a display base with nameplate
- Fully assembled
The angled deck
Clemenceau was among the first generation of carriers built around the angled flight deck, a British invention of the early 1950s that solved the most dangerous problem in carrier aviation.
On a straight deck, aircraft parked forward were separated from landing aircraft by nothing but a wire barrier, and a missed arrest meant crashing into them. Angling the landing area off to port meant a pilot who missed the wires could simply open the throttle and go around — which is why carrier accident rates fell sharply once the idea spread.
Service
Commissioned 1961, decommissioned 1997, after 36 years and deployments from Djibouti to the Adriatic.