The Catapult: Naval Aviation

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History

The Catapult is a brilliant invention when it comes to naval aviation but to understand

how it came about we need to go way back to 1903 where the fathers of aviation Orville and

Wilbur Wright were preparing to change history forever but to do that they needed to get air

born. So they came up with a so called catapult to launch the Wright Flyer. It consisted of a

track with a block that the Wright flyer would be attached to, on that block there was a system of

ropes and pulleys and at the back of the track was a weight suspended, when someone released

the weight it would pull the Wright flyer along the track and shoot it into the books of history as

the first flight ever. The Wright Brothers would offer their system to …show more content…

Early models of the aircraft catapult were tracks attached to warships and

on those tracks there was a block holding the aircraft. It was attached to a rope that ran through a

system of pulleys then lead to a piston filled with compressed air, and when the air is released it

would pull the ropes and hurl the aircraft into the sky.

The new problem was landing, the plane had to land in the water and be winched up, so

the navy designed a new ship with an arresting gear system for landing. It would have ropes with

weights such as sandbags, or other heavy material tied on them. It worked by when the aircraft

would land its hook was supposed to grab different ropes, and come to a halt. Now days are

more advanced, it starts out by a 2.5-inch-thick rope that is tightly set to be about 3 inches off the

deck of the carrier. It has a set of pulleys that the ropes run through that leads to a piston filled

with fluid. When the rope gets snagged it pushes the piston, and as the fluid is pushed up it

builds up pressure and forces the rope to tighten., and slow the plane.

How Effective Is It

Well to be honest the catapult and the arresting gear are the most effective equipment

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