WesWorld

Quoted

Originally posted by Commodore Green

Quoted

Originally posted by ShinRa_Inc
I'm also dubious on the prospect of a ski-jump being effective for launching aircraft until you start operating modern jets.

Your right to be dubious, the ski-jump needs a far greater thrust to weight ratio from an aircraft than anything in service in WW, because as you advance up the ramp, gravity starts to work against you.
Also the airflow coming over the Ski-jump will be more turbulent than that coming over the edge of a normal flight deck. In fact, you would be better following British practice in this regard, the rounded edge used on Ark Royal and her sisters actually smoothed out the airflow, giving the aircraft the best possible chance to acheive aerodynamic lift BEFORE reaching the deck edge.
You do not want to have a plane relying solely on it's engine to haul it into the air as it comes off the deck.

Here's an earlier thread on the issue, inverted that time!!

I read the thread. The 3% incline is not a true ski-jump. The mechanical advantage is present even in a piston engined aircraft where the the thrust ratio is more liker 1/3 or 1/2 instead of 1/1. Wing-loading and boundary control takes care of the stall issues, and since there is no "break" or wind shadow over a continuous 3% incline, there is no stall valley. What you have here is a preset 3% increase in your angle of attack which because of the combined drag and gravity tends to force more LIFT out of the wing at lower speed when you artificially increase the wing camber [flaps] to overcome the drag of gravity, shortening not lengthening your takeoff run, even for piston-engined tail draggers of 1935.

And of course with a catapult it doesn't matter, because you match thrust/weight unity in that case.

H.