Catapult plane

German standard catapult aircraft Arado 196 (in service from 1938)

Catapult launch of the tandem aircraft Aerodrome of Langley , 1903

Catapult launch of the Junkers Ju 46 Europa (D-2244) from the Europa , 1932

The Ha 139 takes off from the catapult ship Friesland (around 1938)

The Friesland takes a BV 138 on board (between 1940 and 1945)

The term catapult aircraft describes a genus of seaplanes ( float planes , flying boats ) that were deployed from ships (except aircraft carriers ) between 1927 and the end of World War II . The seaplanes used as catapult aircraft were launched from the carrier ships by means of an on-board catapult , watered at the carrier ship after their flight mission and were brought back on board using an on-board crane . The carrier ships were passenger ships , warships ( battleships , cruisers ) as well as special catapult and sling ships . The Imperial Japanese Navy had a special group of seaplane carriers and hybrid cruisers and in 1943 initiated a program with the Aichi M6A and the U-cruisers of the I-400 class to operate catapult aircraft from submarines.

history

Due to the low engine power in the early years of aviation, flying machines often needed start-up devices to reach take-off speed. The first " airplane catapult " used Samuel Pierpont Langley on the Potomac River in October 1903, with his tandem airplane from aboard a houseboat, on the ridge of which the catapult was installed, was thrown and fell into the river. The Wright brothers also used a launch device for their first powered flight in December 1903, which gave the aircraft the necessary initial acceleration by means of a falling weight and rope deflections.

The history of the actual catapult aircraft began in 1927 with the Heinkel K 1 aircraft catapult designed on behalf of the Reichsmarine , the civilian successor of which was used to take mail planes off board ocean liners . These planes flew with the mail - to speed up the transport - ahead of the steamer as soon as the destination port was within range. The German Lufthansa took advantage catapult ships , in the Atlantic Ocean were stationed as a way station for flying boats and float planes. In the early days, the main type was the Dornier Wal , followed by the more modern Do 18 . The diesel-powered three- and four-engine types BV 138 , Ha 139 and Do 26 are still among the largest aircraft that were specially designed as catapult aircraft.

The military soon recognized the usefulness of reconnaissance aircraft to be able to enlarge the field of vision of the ships and to enable fire control of the heavy artillery over the horizon. Originally there were a large number of aircraft mother ships and aircraft tenders for this purpose since the First World War , which could accommodate seaplanes for refueling and maintenance, but had to put them back into the water to take off. The on-board catapult now at least made it possible to take off from the ship, even in rough seas . Resuming the aircraft under these conditions remained difficult. Nevertheless, by the end of the Second World War, practically every warship that was large enough was equipped with an on-board catapult and corresponding aircraft. Most of the aircraft on board could carry smaller bombs, which were mainly used for anti-submarine defense . Especially in Japan efforts were made to use these catapult aircraft for offensive tasks, e.g. B. as fighters ( A6M2-N "Rufe") or dive bombers ( Aichi E16A ). In Japan there were also some special Chitose- class seaplane carriers equipped with multiple catapults. The French Commandant Teste was also designed for similar purposes. After the Battle of Midway , the demand for aircraft-carrying ships in the Japanese Navy was high. The hybrid aircraft carriers Mogami and the Ise class were created from existing cruisers and battleships

In civil aviation , the appearance of wheeled aircraft with sufficient range (e.g. Fw 200 Condor ) made flying boats and float planes superfluous. In military aviation, helicopters and aircraft carriers with wheeled aircraft replaced airborne reconnaissance aircraft and larger ships with artillery armament largely disappeared from the fleets of the great powers.

technology

In contrast to wheeled airplanes, which are launched from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier by means of a catapult, catapult-capable seaplanes required some technical facilities to enable operation. On the one hand, the on-board catapults had a so-called catapult slide on which the aircraft were placed. The necessary fittings on the fuselage or the floats had to withstand the stresses of the catapult launch without endangering the water resistance of the aircraft. Second, fittings had to be available for the lifting gear of the on- board crane , which the crew also had to be able to reach in order to hang the crane hooks there. Thirdly, with at least some types, attempts were made to take the aircraft on board by means of a so-called tow sail, which was usually attached to the stern of the ship and was towed . Since this was practically the same as a stranding, the keels or undersides of the hull had to be strong enough not to endanger the ability to swim. The floor of the hull of the Dornier Wal was so robust that it was even possible to take off and land on ice and snow .