"One of the clear benefits is that INCAT blast the decks so that they provide a natural non slip finish.. another words, no requirement for painting chemical non slip surfaces etc... " It's a great idea; alum oxidises to form a natural corrosion inhibitor and as you say, cuts cost, maintenance, pollution, etc. Not so sure about the reynolds number point or the radar scattering point though....

Hey, I wasn't alone!!! My mind even wandered back to the old idea of the "aether" in the universe which was the medium through which radio/light waves were supposed to travel. GF, you had us going. On a personal note - Michelson of M&M experiment fame was a professor at Clark University in Woostah MA (about 20 miles from where I live). My nephew went there, and our fellow poster Worcester is apparently from the same town, but refuses to respond to my references to Woostah ;)

"Speaking of inlet manifolds, you didn't mess with cars did you? We used to glass bead certain parts of our race cars. It weas meant to reduce internal stresses and clean them up, before magnafluxing them." EW3, Cars was my other passion - not enough time for them now though. My second car is a modified range rover, its had a 351 Windsor transplant. Motor is slightly worked. Prior to that I dabbled in Oz Falcon GT's. I even had a bright canary yellow version of the Mad Max interceptor. I have no idea why I went for yellow, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. kph, the "reynolds number" comment was meant to be a "cheeky" one.. ;) it's the science argued on why dimpled golf balls go faster through the air than smooth balls etc...

"351 Windsor transplant"!!! I'd give my eye teeth for one of them. That was a hot ticket on a ford when I was in high school. They made enough to make it legal for SCCA/FIA racing in the Mustang. FWIW - the first two cars in my family were ford falcons. We never had the GT up here, but the comet (the mercury verson of the falcon) had a GT version. Currently I have a Jeep Wrangler and I keep an 1988 Pontiac Fiero (Lotus suspension, ZF gearbox etc only year they got it right!) in a very tightly sealed garage. ;)

BTW - yellow is a good color. I had a Plymouth Hemi-Cuda in canary yellow, black convertible, black interior. Total chick magnet.

Before this degenrates into bird catching inlets and go faster stripes... This thread is about ships. KPH still seems to think that slow/cruising frigates are less efficient with three small hulls in the water rather than one big one. The data gleaned from the RN's Triton research vessel suggests otherwise. It may well be that Cats are even more efficent (I seem to recall seeing data to that effect in a PDF), but they do have drawbacks for a frontline military craft.

http://www.austal.com/images/gallery/LM1G6863.jpg http://www.austal.com/images/gallery/Benchuga_Express_headon.jpg http://www.austal.com/images/gallery/LM1G6745_2.jpg http://www.austal.com/images/gallery/LM1G6847.jpg http://www.austal.com/images/gallery/260_Bridge.jpg http://www.austal.com/images/gallery/260_aft_engine_room.jpg Imagine this one as a AAW-AWD-VLS platform. ;)

It's quite sleek - similar to the Austal-GD all aluminium version of the LCS, probably sharing much commonality in design. What I like in particular, is the use of decorative vinyl film in place of paints above the waterline; imv, very innovative. Apparently the option to build the LCS will only be confirmed in October this year?? I wonder how the top brasses rationalise the use of aluminium on an expensive naval asset.

Lovely. A real beaut. I think that side fins on each hull (M hull tech) would reduce the wake and increase the efficiency?