[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: The most important part of any aircraft carrier
is also the most dangerous, the flight deck.
Whoa.
NARRATOR: A floating airfield for war planes
loaded with fuel, bombs, and missiles.
The risks are enormous.
Get ready to taxi.
NARRATOR: Computer simulation helps the air
crew plan for the worst.
Launch the jet.
OBSERVER: Whoa.
Maritime aviation at its best.
Operating at sea is not rocket science, but operating at sea
is bloody dangerous.
There's a whole lot of people who
have gone before us who have learned the hard way as to why
you do certain things.
I'd be a bloody fool to ignore what our forefathers did.
SIMULATOR TRAINER: All approach [INAUDIBLE]
That's nice.
There you go.
Look at that.
We've solved the problem.
It's probably worth just explaining about an airfield.
An airfield has a 10,000 foot runway.
OK?
And we know what's going to happen on the runway.
That's where the jets are going to be taking off and landing.
So at the same time on that airfield,
you're going to have to have a bomb dump.
You're going to have to have a fuel dump.
You're going to have to somewhere where
you're going to house everyone.
And there'll be an HQ section.
But all of those, in a 2,000 acre estate are spread out.
You keep the bombs away from the runway.
You keep the fuel away from the runway.
You keep the fuel away from the accommodation.
Our ship, which although the biggest thing the Navy's
ever built, compared to this 10,000 foot runway,
our ship is there.
We've got a metal box in there.
There'll be a magazine.
There'll be the fuel.
And if you think of the flight deck area and all
the armed aircraft up there that are both operating, rearming,
refueling, there's a lot of potential risk
that we have to manage.
[INAUDIBLE]
NARRATOR: Without their own flight deck to train on,
the Queen Elizabeth aircraft handlers are practicing
on a dummy deck ashore.
It's only a third the size of their own.
And the old decommissioned Harrier jets can't even fly.
But things are moving forward.
There will be things they're getting wrong,
but, ultimately, this is our practice.
When we do it on the deck for real,
with the ship maneuvering, with a bit
more sort of operational pressure,
we can't afford to get it wrong.
So we'll get all our mistakes out of the way here.
And then when the real jets turn up, we'll be in a better place.
NARRATOR: The real jets will be top secret F-35B
Lightning Stealth Fighters.
These are still in development and kept strictly under wraps.
So none of the deck handlers have ever seen one,
much less handled one.
TRAINER: Good afternoon, everybody.
I'm just going to give you a little dent
on the fixed wing replica of an F-35B,
Life size to scale, right--
NARRATOR: So not an actual F-35, but a life-sized fiberglass
model.
Eventually, their job will be to maneuver these around the deck
and guide the pilots into position.
This will give them a feel for the real thing.
AIRCRAFT HANDLER: Compared to a Harrier,
I didn't' realize how big it was.
Massive.
NARRATOR: 29-year-old Emma Ranson From Liverpool,
newly promoted to Petty Officer, will be the first Flight Deck
Leader on the Queen Elizabeth.
So this full-sized replica is a glimpse into her own future.
Amazing.
I mean, what can you say about it?
Just amazing.
It's just going to help our training out loads.
It's just going to really benefit
all us aircraft handlers moving from this
around deck, just unbelievable.
I'm so excited now.
I can't wait just to get it moving.
NARRATOR: So Emma with her new toy,
now has a much more realistic way of training her team.