Look first at a modern US aircraft carrier, then look at a similar vessel from World War II. It is simply impossible to look at this pathetic semblance of a floating runway without tears. The ships of that time seem almost tiny. And the most important thing is that it becomes absolutely not clear how all these, albeit small planes, not only do they fit on the deck, they also somehow take off from it at such a modest size playgrounds.
Two important things to understand right away about aircraft carriers. First, from the very beginning they were not small. The second - photographs, where the entire deck is filled with planes, are staged. Now let's talk about each of these points in more detail and start with the sizes, which, in fact, are always of great importance!
As you know, everything is learned by comparison. The largest aircraft carrier of the Second World War is considered the Japanese "Shinano" with a total length of 266 meters. For comparison, quite a modern nuclear aircraft carrier "Enterprise" (launched in 1961) from the United States has a length of 342 meters. The difference is significant, but still not radical. Especially when you realize that the conventional "Shinano" launched motor planes, and the conventional "Enterprise" now launches jet aircraft.
The fact is that 250 meters of the runway is quite enough for launching a light motor fighter. Even heavily loaded fighters, which, among other things, carry torpedoes or bombs, can take off from this without much difficulty. If the plane is too heavy, then a special catapult could be used to launch it, which gave the car an additional charge of inertia.
Now, regarding the availability of free space on the deck. The fact is that during combat readiness, she was almost always free. Most of the aircraft were in hangars below deck and were lifted by the carrier's crew to the runway as needed using an elevator. There were always only a few cars directly on the deck. Therefore, there was enough space for takeoffs, and landings, and for other important actions.
In addition, all the photographs from a bird's eye view, when the deck of an aircraft carrier (both modern and wartime) is literally littered with aircraft, are staged. Most often, these pictures are taken during hangar maintenance, when all aircraft are lifted to the deck. There are no take-offs and landings on board at this time.
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Now for the landing. It is quite obvious that taking off from a 250-meter deck is much easier than landing on it. It is for this reason that “cable brakes” have been used on aircraft carriers, to which the vehicles cling to a special hook at the moment of landing. They work very simply. A hook hangs on the back of the aircraft on a small cable, and a special very strong cable is pulled across the deck of the aircraft carrier. The trick is for the pilot to be able to hook the cable and immediately "fall" the chassis of the machine onto the deck. If it didn't work the first time, the plane goes to a new circle.
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Ultimately, the success of takeoffs and landings on an aircraft carrier consists of three factors: the experience of the pilots, well-functioning work of sailors and officers, as well as a subtle understanding of the current situation from the outside dispatcher.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should definitely read about 10 famous ships that went down in history thanks to their adventures.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/180120/53131/