Ski-jump (aviation)
It is believed that the first use of the ski-jump occurred during the Second World War, when a temporary ramp was added to HMS Furious to help heavily laden Fairey Barracudas attack the German battleship Tirpitz.
The Royal Navy took a particular interest in the ski-jump during the 1970s, conducting tests with the new Hawker Siddeley Harrier VSTOL fighter, then added a ramp to its next generation of aircraft carrier, the Invincible class.
Since the aircraft is still traveling at an inadequate speed to generate enough lift, its climb rate will start to drop as soon as it leaves the flight deck.
[4] While aircraft such as the F/A 18 that are normally catapult-launched can make use of a ski-ramp, this typically comes at the cost of a reduced capacity for either fuel or munitions, and thus negatively impacting mission scope significantly.
On 30 October 1980, test pilot Lt Cdr David Poole conducted the first ski-jump assisted Harrier take-off at sea.
Furthermore, later models of ski-jump feature refinements over the original design; it was determined that even relatively minor ruts or imperfections on an otherwise absolutely smooth surface were sufficient to precipitate cracking in an aircraft's landing gear.
[8] It is possible for a modern ski-jump to be built as a single removable structure placed upon the forward flight deck, rather than being fully integrated into a ship's bow.
[8] The Australian and Spanish Juan Carlos-class landing helicopter docks (LHDs) have also been outfitted with ski-jumps to facilitate potential STOVL operations.
[8] By the start of the twenty-first century, the British, Chinese, Indian, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Thai navies all possessed aircraft carriers equipped with ski-ramps.
Upon command, the pilot releases the brake; the panels from the deck drop back into their slots; and the aircraft rapidly taxis forward under maximum thrust.
[17] Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing aircraft (STOVL) make a conventional rolling takeoff, with the jet exhausts set to provide maximum forward thrust.
When a Harrier launches from an American landing helicopter assault (LHA), it would finish its takeoff roll and begin flight at 60 ft (18 m) above the water.
[17] In 1988, a detachment of US Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier IIs conducted a series of flight tests on the Príncipe de Asturias.
"[17] During the early 1990s, the United States Air Force examined the use of ski-jumps on land to enable short-field takeoffs; the approach was viewed as "a possible solution to the runway denial problem in Europe" during the Cold War.
It was determined that, when using a ski-jump with a nine degree angle of departure, the distance required for an McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet to takeoff would be reduced by roughly half.
