Trying to Express an Amount of Force

[John Sherman]

So, I'm working on an article about the SHIELD Helicarrier. I determined that, even if the ducted fans and related machinery weighed nothing, it would still take over a billion Newtons to allow an aircraft carrier to hover. Is there any good way to describe how ridiculous that amount of force is?

 

[Drakkith]

It is equal to the force exerted by 1,457,725 (1.5 million) people on the Earth's surface for one thing. I'd say describing 1 billion Newtons as the force required to lift an aircraft carrier is a pretty solid description.

 

[CWatters]

I believe it's traditional in certain mainstream newspapers to convert it to the force exerted by a number of elephants standing on your foot...

..although I'm sure the vast majority of their readers have no idea what one elephant standing on your foot feels like.

 

[sophiecentaur]

The force needed is just the Weight which, as stated above is just a bit less than 1billion Newtons, for a really big one.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Let's assume the four engines actually do produce enough force to keep the carrier airborne. Also, let's pretend they can work in space as well as in air.
According to this handy calculator:
http://www.convertalot.com/relativistic_star_ship_calculator.html
were you to attach an elephant to these engines, it'd reach Alpha Centauri in 18 hours(elephant's time). It would have attained 0.9c in around an hour. The 10000g would probably not make for a pleasant journey though.