PaperModelers.com

Go Back   PaperModelers.com > Designers Corner > Design Requests

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 09-21-2021, 06:02 PM
missileer missileer is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Annapolis, MD
Posts: 1,159
Total Downloaded: 969.48 MB
USN's First Aircraft Carrier

The USS George Washington Parke Custis was the first aircraft carrier deployed by the US Navy. It was a coal barge, bought for $150 and heavily modified in the Washington Naval Yard to carry and launch observation balloons. It was deployed in 1861 on the Potomac River with escorts, thus becoming part of the first US aircraft carrier task force to see action in a war zone. I think this would be a great addition to the paper model world, if we have a designer that would take the challenge.

John
Reply With Quote
Google Adsense
  #2  
Old 09-21-2021, 06:26 PM
Vermin_King's Avatar
Vermin_King Vermin_King is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 11,574
Total Downloaded: 582.17 MB
John, do a search at the forum here and you will see that we have/had a builder up to the challenge.

Look for all posts with 'Custis'


I don't think anyone has published a download, though, but looking at Lepercan's build might help you get it worked out
__________________
A fine is a tax when you do wrong.
A tax is a fine when you do well.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 09-21-2021, 07:18 PM
missileer missileer is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Annapolis, MD
Posts: 1,159
Total Downloaded: 969.48 MB
VK,

Thanks for the tip. I will do that post haste!

John
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 09-22-2021, 01:31 PM
Thumb Dog Thumb Dog is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 548
Total Downloaded: 553.70 MB
Hi All,

And hi, missileer.

While the model sounds like an interesting project, the idea of procuring a leaky old barge to convert into a waterborne launch site for a hydrogen balloon sounds like lunacy at best. Imagine being on board the rolling hulk with the hundreds of pounds of iron filings and the barrels full of sulfuric acid you’ll need to make the lifting gas for the balloon. And after you’ve finished all the dangerous work of making the hydrogen and inflating the balloon, the result is that you’ve got a gigantic bomb floating overhead. And, as it’s a tethered balloon, you’ve got to crank it out, wait for the observer to see what he can see, and then crank the bomb back to the barge. It’s amazing what people will do just to see over the hill.

For those interested in seeing a Civil War hydrogen balloon in action, I can recommend watching the opening scenes of the 1961 film, Mysterious Island. Aside from the balloon, the film features a great score by Bernard Herrmann and a favorite actress of mine, Joan Greenwood. There's a giant crab and a submarine, too. Great fun.

Best of luck in finding your aerostat, missileer.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 09-23-2021, 01:21 PM
missileer missileer is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Annapolis, MD
Posts: 1,159
Total Downloaded: 969.48 MB
Thanks, Thumbdog,

You hit it spot on! Just shows you how daring-do our forefathers were. Incidentally, (I guess to prove how safe it was), Professor Lowe, the owner of the balloon and equipment, and the area commander, General Danial Sickles went up in the first launch of the balloon, aptly named INTREPID.

John
Reply With Quote
Google Adsense
  #6  
Old 09-24-2021, 01:57 PM
ShadowCory's Avatar
ShadowCory ShadowCory is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Florida
Posts: 877
Total Downloaded: 29.59 MB
This sounds like a cool idea!
__________________
My other life:http://rcorycollins.weebly.com/
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 09-24-2021, 04:50 PM
missileer missileer is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Annapolis, MD
Posts: 1,159
Total Downloaded: 969.48 MB
To add a little more to the background story of the Balloon Boat, George Washington Parke Custis was the stepson of George Washington, the grandson of Martha Washington and the father-in-law of Robert E. Lee. Talk about mixing metaphors.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 09-24-2021, 06:10 PM
Foute Man Foute Man is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: The Hague, Netherlands
Posts: 495
Total Downloaded: 694.82 MB
A very good video about the development of what became at the end the aircraft carrier as we know it.
Part of a trilogy, this is part 1



In case the video doesn't show in this post, click here to watch it on Youtube
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 09-25-2021, 07:24 PM
missileer missileer is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Annapolis, MD
Posts: 1,159
Total Downloaded: 969.48 MB
Foute Man,

Thank you for the link. It was very interesting and provocative. I thoroughly enjoy the wry humor of UK historians. History writers of other nations do add humor, but it usually takes the form of a separate paragraph. It doesn't sneak up on you. An exception would probably be Bruce Catton in his American Civil War books.

John
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 09-25-2021, 10:29 PM
Thumb Dog Thumb Dog is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 548
Total Downloaded: 553.70 MB
Hi All,

And hi again, missileer.

Aside from my continuing enthusiasm for all things lighter-than-air, the name of our first aircraft carrier piqued my interest, too. George Washington Parke Custis is a strange string of names, but there is a roundabout explanation.

Everybody knows the name George Washington, but Parke Custis may not ring a bell. Martha Washington, whose maiden name was Dandridge, brought the name with her when she married George in 1759. At the age of 18, Martha first married the nearly 40 year old Daniel Parke Custis in 1750. During their brief marriage, the busy Martha gave birth to four children. When Daniel died in 1757, Martha, then 26, found herself a very rich woman with the brains to operate the five plantations left to her and the cash and investments to manage them. Her second marriage to George would increase his holdings by a sizable amount. If she had lived in the age of prenups, she would have held the upper hand.

My interest in all this comes from the fact that my mother-in-law’s maiden name was Parke, and her family history holds that they are descendants of the Parke line mentioned above. But why does Parke Custis appear in history as a two-part last name? It all goes back to the 17th century. Daniel Parke Sr. was a mover and shaker in mid-century colonial Virginia, reaching the office of Secretary of State of Virginia in 1678. In his will, he commanded that none of his descendants could inherit from his estate unless the name Parke appeared somewhere in their name. I can’t speak to the current health of the larger Parke estate, but no such money ever came my mother-in-law’s way.

Which leads me to one of my history-teaching father’s favorite comments about George Washington...

First in War,
First in Peace,
And He Married a Widow.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog
Reply With Quote
Google Adsense
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:33 AM.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

Parts of this site powered by vBulletin Mods & Addons from DragonByte Technologies Ltd. (Details)
Copyright © 2007-2023, PaperModelers.com