Catapult Aircraft: Seaplanes That Flew From Ships Without Flight DecksPen and Sword, 21 sept. 2006 - 224 pages A concise history of this specialty aircraft used during World Wars I and II. During World War I, the navies of the opposing forces discovered the value of aerial reconnaissance, and many experiments were made to allow larger warships to carry one or sometimes two aircraft aboard. In the early days these were float planes that were lowered by crane into the sea and then lifted back aboard upon their return. This was a lengthy affair and when a speedy departure was necessary, time was of the essence. A new system was devised so that a powerful catapult system and a short ramp could, with the added speed of the ship, get an aircraft airborne in a fraction of the time previously required. Thus was born a highly specialised type of aircraft. This book includes all the major designs that went to war in the First and Second World Wars and includes aircraft used by all the combatants. It looks at how the aircraft evolved and how the warships were modified to accommodate the aircraft and the catapult system. The use of these fixed-wing aircraft was abandoned when the invention of the helicopter was made in the early post-WWII years. |
Table des matières
United States Navy | |
Imperial Japanese Navy | |
Germany | |
Italy | |
France | |
Other Nations | |
Aircraft and Submarines | |
Bibliography | |
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Expressions et termes fréquents
abaft the funnels Aichi aircraft carriers armed Author’s Collection aviation battlecruisers biplane bombs British built carried catapult catapult aircraft catapult launching catapult trials class ships cockpit completed configuration crane crew Curtiss deployed aboard destroyers developed embarked entered service equipped Escadrille FAA Museum Fairey IIIF fighter fitted fleet flew floatplane flown flying boat fuselage German guns hangar heavy cruisers Heinkel hull initial installed Japanese Navy landing light cruisers liquid-cooled Loire Luftwaffe Macchi Macchi M.18 main armament mainmast maximum speed Mitsubishi monoplane mounted Nakajima naval O2U Corsair operated OS2U Kingfisher Osprey pilot platform powered produced prototype quarterdeck radial engine Reconnaissance Seaplane refit replaced Royal Navy scouting Seagull seaplane carrier Second World Second World War ship’s shipboard single single-seat SOC Seagull Squadron stowed submarines subsequently Swordfish take-off torpedo TRH Pictures turret twin floats two-seat undercarriage Vought Walrus warships weight