Hangar catapult

Pendekar

New Member
I wanna ask an opinions. How viable it is to install a catapult inside a hangar and launch the fighter aircraft directly from inside the hangar using this catapult? No need to taxi and enter runway.
 

uuname

New Member
I wanna ask an opinions. How viable it is to install a catapult inside a hangar and launch the fighter aircraft directly from inside the hangar using this catapult? No need to taxi and enter runway.
I'm not sure that operating jet engines in an enclosed space where they are also refueled is a good idea from a risk managment perspective. Build-up of fumes, exhaust, etc...
 

vivtho

New Member
I wanna ask an opinions. How viable it is to install a catapult inside a hangar and launch the fighter aircraft directly from inside the hangar using this catapult? No need to taxi and enter runway.
Something similar has already been tried by both the US, Germany and the USSR. It was called Zero Length Launch where a solid-rocket booster was used to launch an aircraft off a trailer-mounted rail (They never launched it from a hangar though). You can check out a video at [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah3QPvqr4ek"]F-84 ZELL trials - YouTube[/nomedia]. The US tested the concept on F-84 Thunderjets, the Germans on F-104G Starfighters and the Russians on MiG-19s.

The reasoning behind these tests was to allow aircraft to be launched from remote locations closer to the battlefront even if the airfields were destroyed. None of these concepts entered service mainly because
  • High G-forces on the pilot
  • If the rocket was even slightly misalinged it would cause the aircraft to crash
It's much more effective to operate a fleet of S/VTOL aircraft which avoid all of these risks.
 

My2Cents

Active Member
I wanna ask an opinions. How viable it is to install a catapult inside a hangar and launch the fighter aircraft directly from inside the hangar using this catapult? No need to taxi and enter runway.
Compare the length of the catapult to the dimensions of standard hangers and you will find that they won't fit, so you need bigger hangers just to hold the catapults, not to mention that there is now a large area (the catapult) in the hanger that must be kept clear of parked aircraft. You also have the catapult itself which is a very large, complex, expensive, and energy hungry beast.

The catapult hanger is a fixed location, and therefore extremely vulnerable high value target, and unlikely to survive long when the shooting starts. Unlike the aircraft which will be dispersed, and can in many cases operate from any section of road with a straight section of sufficient length and width.
 

Lostfleet

New Member
Some Essex class carriers of the USN were fitted with a catapult in the hangar deck. Follow the link below for pics and information.

Essex-class Hangar Catapult
that is a short space to launch an aircraft :)

for modern use though, the only practical applicaton that comes to my mind would be for smaller UAVs . Considering the comments about a jet engine working inside a busy hangar, then can we consider closed launch tunnels as in Battlestar Galactica ?
 

Tomcat231

New Member
There are two landbased sites in US. Lakehurst NJ who has several steam and one Electromagnetic to test upgrades to cats. Patuxent River MD has one steam cat to test carrier suitability of aircraft. The cost of a new cat exceeds by far 50 million for a steam cat, double that for EMALS.
 

Pendekar

New Member
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8
Compare the length of the catapult to the dimensions of standard hangers and you will find that they won't fit, so you need bigger hangers just to hold the catapults, not to mention that there is now a large area (the catapult) in the hanger that must be kept clear of parked aircraft. You also have the catapult itself which is a very large, complex, expensive, and energy hungry beast.

The catapult hanger is a fixed location, and therefore extremely vulnerable high value target, and unlikely to survive long when the shooting starts. Unlike the aircraft which will be dispersed, and can in many cases operate from any section of road with a straight section of sufficient length and width.
What if all the complex catapult mechanism is underground? Only the shuttle and the track is visible above ground.

I understand the static vulnerability, but i never intended for this hangar to survive long, though it maybe possible with proper camouflage. It is design to launch aircraft as quickly as possible. This is important especially if the airbase share runway with the commercial flights.
 
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