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pharmy -> RE: What ship is this? (#2) (6/20/2014 10:13:54 PM)
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quote:
Both these ship had downward ramps as built, not the upward ramps we think of today- they gave taking off aircraft a bump of speed as they went downhill, and slowed landing aircraft as they went uphill. Both were later rebuilt with an upward ramp at the bow. Argus had a slight upward flair added to the leading edge of her flight deck in the mid 1930s, while Furious had a more unusual flightdeck added in 1932: the upward ramp was added 1/3 of the way back from the bow, and to the rear 1/6th of the flightdeck also. So from the side her flightdeck was dished, like this: ---_________--------
Courageous and Glorious had a ski ramps fitted to their forward flight decks, slight but unmistakable, though they retained their old-style downward ramps at the stern end of the flightdecks.
All these ships have the same thing in common: they were early carriers (most were converted from other uses) designed to operate much lighter and slower aircraft, so when they were rebuilt to keep them in service designers did what they could to make their relatively short flight decks operate modern, heavier aircraft.
The only non-British WWII or earlier carrier I can find with any sort of upward flare to the flightdeck is the German Graf Zeppelin. She had her forward flight deck elevated slightly, though it appears to be because of the oddball catapult system, which used aircraft sleds that flipped and returned under the flight deck, rather than any attempt to aim an aircraft upward during takeoff.
source http://warships1discussionboards.yuku.com/reply/290924/Early-ski-jumps-#.U6SxnEBdB8U not a real source but seems to be a good explanation
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