At the bow edge of a USN aircraft carrier flight deck are two "planks" sticking out. They are in alignment with the aircraft catapults. What are they called and what are they for?
- posted
13 years ago
Question: Aircraft Carrier Part
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- posted
13 years ago
Basically they were only used on the angled deck Essex class upgrades and the conventionally powered supercarriers. They are overrun ramps for the catapult shoe and bridle in those catapults using them.
Modern catapults have a shoe which catches a bar on the nosegear and therefore do not need any sort of device like that.
Cookie Sewell
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13 years ago
Correct: and the first three Nimitz-class ships were the last to have bridle catchers. And they're removed when they go into the yard for RICOH. Nimitz had three, Ike two (on the bow), and Carl Vinson only one on the starboard bow cat.