Aircraft carriers are one of the most important strike forces of the surface fleets of major naval powers. In this case, the speed of raising into the air the aircraft wing located on the aircraft carrier is of particular importance. The combat power of an aircraft carrier directly depends on the deck, its correct location, and logistics.
As you know, aircraft-carrying ships appeared during the First World War. In the early 1920s, British naval engineers drew attention to the specifics of the organization of the flight deck of aircraft carriers. Soon, aircraft carriers in the British Royal Navy acquired the rounded nose of the flight deck. The aft deck overhang is now horizontal.
Around the same time, double flight decks came into vogue in both the UK and Japan. Now light fighter aircraft could take off from the auxiliary take-off deck. On the Japanese ships "Akagi" and "Kaga" there were even two auxiliary take-off decks. But the "weighting" of the naval aviation aircraft did its job: they needed an increasing take-off run before launch, as a result of which the concept of double flight decks had to be abandoned. But the need to ensure the simultaneous take-off and landing of aircraft remained.
When nuclear weapons were created, the idea of creating a ship from which planes with atomic bombs could take off naturally arose. American designers proposed the concept of an axial deck with a lifting superstructure-island, and the British Royal Navy proposed a deck landing system such as a flexible landing pad. In 1951, British officer Dennis Campbell first put forward the idea of creating a corner deck for an aircraft carrier.
Prior to Campbell's proposal, aircraft carriers, such as the Essex-class ships, had a straight deck structure. As a result, planes could either take off from an aircraft carrier or land on it. Campbell's proposal fundamentally changed this scheme. Another angular line was added to the center line, which made it possible not only to take off and land at the same time, but also to land several times without the risk of crashing into other aircraft.
The US Navy became interested in Campbell's idea. As a result, at the Lee airfield near Portsmouth, the concept of a corner deck was tested in a test site, then a drawing of an experimental vessel was made, in the role of which the aircraft carrier Triumph acted. Finally, from September to December 1952, the Antietam (CVS-36), which had recently returned from being used in combat off the Korean Peninsula, was upgraded under the corner deck at a naval shipyard in New York.
The tests were very successful and the American military no longer doubted the effectiveness of the corner deck. Following the US Navy, the angular deck, finding it a significant plus, was accepted by the aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy of Great Britain, and then by the fleets of other states. The same aircraft carriers that could not be equipped with a corner deck were converted into helicopter carriers.
Now many experts are wondering whether the corner deck is the "crown of evolution" of aircraft carrier decks, or is there any further development paths? So far, the architecture of the project of the American aircraft carrier of the XXI century is still based on the corner deck.
But again the idea of returning to the axial deck is being put forward. For example, an aircraft carrier may have 2 straight upper level landing decks with a catapult placed between them. On the deck of the lower level there are 2 additional catapults, which ensure the taxiing of the aircraft from the hangar of the upper level. The planes are lifted from the lower hangar using 4 special hoists. Experts consider the presence of 2 hangars, 2 direct landing strips, as well as the axial placement of the superstructure, which makes it possible to reduce the turbulence of air flows along the landing course of the aircraft, as the undoubted advantages of the project.
Flight decks are also subdivided into flat decks and jump decks. The first type of decks is designed for horizontal take-off aircraft, in order to lift them into the air, a steam catapult is required. Currently, all US Navy aircraft carriers and the French Navy aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle have a flat flight deck.
Jumping flight decks are used for vertical and short takeoff aircraft. The runway and the runway are combined. This type of deck is typical for aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy of Great Britain, the Navy of Italy, Spain, India, Thailand and the Russian Navy.
If we talk about the Russian aircraft carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov", then it occupies a special position among aircraft carriers with flight decks with a springboard. It is the base for aircraft capable of taking off without a catapult from a short runway. Also, the aircraft carrier has an angular landing deck and aerial cable arrestors, which are absent from other aircraft carriers with a springboard.
But starting an aircraft from a springboard has certain disadvantages: since in order to lift it into the air for a combat mission, the aircraft must put the engines into afterburner mode, their resource is developed and fuel consumption increases. As a result, this circumstance reduces the flight time, respectively, and the time for completing the assigned tasks is also reduced.
