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{{short description|Landing/take off surface of an aircraft carrier}}
{{about|the flight deck of an aircraft carrier|the flight deck of an aircraft|cockpit|other uses|Flight Deck (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
[[File:French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91) underway on 24 April 2019 (190424-M-BP588-1005).jpg|thumb|Flight deck of [[French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle|''Charles de Gaulle'']], catapults are installed on aircraft carriers in three countries.]]
[[File:World Navy Aircraft carries chart.svg|thumb|Various types of flight deck configurations, some of which include ski-jump ramps which can be found on aircraft carriers in several countries.]]

The '''flight deck''' of an [[aircraft carrier]] is the [[Deck (ship)|surface]] on which its [[aircraft]] take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the [[Helicopter deck|landing area]] for [[helicopter]]s and other [[VTOL]] aircraft is also referred to as the flight deck. The official [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] term for these vessels is "air-capable ships".<ref>{{cite book |title=NATOPS Instrument Flight Manual NAVAIR 00-80T-112 : "Helicopter Operation Procedures for Air-Capable Ships" |year=2006 |publisher=Naval Air Systems Command, Department of the Navy}}</ref>

Flight decks have been in use upon ships since 1910, the American pilot [[Eugene Ely]] being the first individual to take off from a warship. Initially consisting of wooden ramps built over the [[forecastle]] of [[capital ship]]s, a number of [[battlecruiser]]s, including the British {{HMS|Furious|47|6}} and {{sclass|Courageous|aircraft carrier|4}}, the American {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|6}} and {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2}}, and the Japanese [[Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi|''Akagi'']] and battleship [[Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga|''Kaga'']], were converted to aircraft carriers during the [[interwar period]]. The first aircraft carrier to feature a full-length flight deck, akin to the configuration of the modern vessels, was the converted liner {{HMS|Argus|1917|6}} which entered service in 1918. The [[armoured flight deck]] was another innovation pioneered by the [[Royal Navy]] during the 1930s. Early landing arrangements relied on the low speed and landing speed of the era's aircraft, being simply "caught" by a team of deck-hands in a fairly hazardous arrangement, but these became impractical as heavier aircraft with higher landing speeds emerged; thus an arrangement of [[arrestor cable]]s and [[tailhook]]s soon became the favoured approach.

During the [[Cold War]] era, numerous innovations were introduced to the flight deck. The angled flight deck, invented by [[Dennis Cambell]] of the Royal Navy, was one prominent design feature that drastically simplified aircraft recovery and deck movements, enabling landing and launching operations to be performed simultaneously rather than interchangeably; it also better handled the higher landing speeds of [[jet propulsion|jet-powered]] aircraft. In 1952, {{HMS|Triumph|R16|6}} became the first aircraft carrier to trial the angled flight deck. Another advance was the [[Ski-jump (aviation)|ski-jump]], which fitted an angled ramp on the flight deck near the end of the aircraft's takeoff run; the change greatly reduced the distance required and became particularly useful for operating [[STOVL]] aircraft. Furthermore, various unsuccessful concepts to replace or complement the conventional flight deck have emerged over the years, from the flexible flight deck to the [[submarine aircraft carrier]] and [[flying boat]] [[fighter aircraft]].

==Evolution==
[[File:USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4) 01-18-1911 - NARA - 520791.jpg|thumb|right|Eugene Ely's first landing, on the armored cruiser USS ''Pennsylvania'']]

===Early===
The first flight [[Deck (ship)|decks]] were inclined wooden ramps built over the [[forecastle]] of warships. [[Eugene Ely]] made the [[Naval aviation|first fixed-wing aircraft take-off from a warship]] from {{USS|Birmingham|CL-2|6}} on 14 November 1910.{{fact|date=January 2022}}

Two months later, on 18 January 1911, Ely landed his Curtiss pusher plane on a platform on {{USS|Pennsylvania|ACR-4|2}} anchored in [[San Francisco Bay]] using the first [[tailhook]] system, designed and built by circus performer and aviator Hugh Robinson. Ely told a reporter: "It was easy enough. I think the trick could be successfully turned nine times out of ten." On 9 May 1912,<ref>{{cite newspaper The Times |title=Flight From the Hibernia |date=10 May 1912 |page=8 |issue=39895 |column=3}}</ref> Commander [[Charles Rumney Samson|Charles Samson]] became the first man to take off from a ship which was underway when he flew his [[Short S.27]] off {{HMS|Hibernia|1905|6}}, which was steaming at {{convert|10.5|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}}.{{fact|date=January 2022}}

Because the take-off speed of early aircraft was so low, it was possible for an aircraft to make a very short take off when the launching ship was steaming into the wind. Later, removable "flying-off platforms" appeared on the gun turrets of [[battleship]]s and [[battlecruiser]]s starting with {{HMS|Repulse|1916|6}}, allowing aircraft to be flown off for scouting purposes, although there was no chance of recovery.{{fact|date=January 2022}}

On 2 August 1917, while performing trials, Squadron Commander [[Edwin Harris Dunning]] landed a [[Sopwith Pup]] successfully on board the flying-off platform of {{HMS|Furious|47|6}}, becoming the first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship. However, on his third attempt, a tire burst as he attempted to land, causing the aircraft to go over the side, killing him; thus Dunning also has the dubious distinction of being the first person to die in an aircraft carrier landing accident.{{fact|date=January 2022}}

The landing arrangements on ''Furious'' were highly unsatisfactory. In order to land, aircraft had to maneuver around the superstructure. ''Furious'' was therefore returned to dockyard hands to have a {{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} deck added aft for landing, on top of a new hangar. The central superstructure remained, however, and turbulence caused by it badly affected the landing deck.{{fact|date=January 2022}}

===Full length===
[[File:HMS Argus (1917).jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Argus|1917|6}} showing the full-length flight deck from bow to stern]]
[[File:시승함인 독도함의 모습과 해상사열을 참관중인 국민 참관단의 모습 (1) (22055340289).jpg|thumb|[[ROKS Dokdo|ROKS ''Dokdo'']]'s full length flight deck]]
The first aircraft carrier that began to show the configuration of the modern vessel was the converted liner {{HMS|Argus|1917|6}}, which had a large flat wooden deck added over the entire length of the hull, giving a combined landing and take-off deck unobstructed by superstructure turbulence. Because of her unobstructed flight deck, ''Argus'' had no fixed [[conning tower]] and no funnel. Rather, exhaust gases were trunked down the side of the ship and ejected under the fantail of the flight deck (which, despite arrangements to disperse the gases, gave an unwelcome "lift" to aircraft immediately prior to landing). 

The lack of a command position and funnel was unsatisfactory, and ''Argus'' was used to experiment with various ideas to remedy the solution. A photograph in 1917 shows her with a canvas mock-up of a starboard "island" superstructure and funnel. This was placed on the starboard side because the [[rotary engine]]s of some early aircraft created [[torque]] which pulled the nose left, meaning an aircraft naturally [[Yaw, pitch, and roll|yawed]] to port on take-off; therefore, it was desirable that they turned away from the fixed superstructure. This became the typical aircraft carrier arrangement and was used in the next [[United Kingdom|British]] carriers, {{HMS|Hermes|95|2}} and {{HMS|Eagle|1918|2}}.

After [[World War I]], [[battlecruiser]]s that otherwise would have been discarded under the [[Washington Naval Treaty]]—such as the British {{HMS|Furious|47|6}} and {{sclass|Courageous|aircraft carrier|4}}, the American {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|6}} and {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2}}, and the Japanese [[Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi|''Akagi'']] and battleship [[Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga|''Kaga'']]—were converted to carriers along the above lines. Being large and fast they were perfectly suited to this role; the heavy armoring and [[scantling]]s and low speed of the converted battleship ''Eagle'' served to be something of a handicap in practice. 

Because the military effectiveness of aircraft carriers was then unknown, early ships were typically equipped with cruiser-calibre guns to aid in their defense if surprised by enemy warships. These guns were generally removed in [[World War II]] and replaced with [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft gun]]s, as carrier doctrine developed the "task force" (later called "battle group") model, where the carrier's defense against surface ships would be a combination of escorting warships and its own aircraft.

In ships of this configuration, the hangar deck was the strength deck and an integral part of the hull, and the hangar and light steel flight deck were considered to be part of the superstructure. Such ships were still being built into the late 1940s, classic examples being the U.S. Navy's {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier|5}} and {{sclass|Ticonderoga|aircraft carrier|0}} carriers. However, in 1936, the [[Royal Navy]] began construction of the {{sclass|Illustrious|aircraft carrier|4}}. 

In these ships, the flight deck was the strength deck, an integral part of the hull, and was heavily armored to protect the ship and her air complement. The flight deck as the strength deck was adopted for later construction. This was necessitated by the ever-increasing size of the ships, from the 13,000&nbsp;[[Tonnage|ton]] {{USS|Langley|CV-1|6}} in 1922 to over 100,000&nbsp;tons in the latest {{sclass|Nimitz|aircraft carrier|0}} and {{sclass|Gerald R. Ford|aircraft carrier|0}} carriers.

===Armored===
{{Main|Armoured flight deck }}

When aircraft carriers supplanted battleships as the primary fleet capital ship, there were two schools of thought on the question of armor protection being included into the flight deck. The [[United States Navy]] (USN) initially favored unarmored flight decks because they maximized aircraft carrier hangar and flight deck size, which in turn maximized aircraft capacity in the hangar, and on the flight deck, in the form of a permanent "deck park" for a large proportion of the aircraft carried.<ref>{{cite book |title=American and British Aircraft Carrier Development, 1919-1941 |first1=Thomas C. |last1=Hone |first2=Norman |last2=Friedman |first3=Mark D. |last3=Mandeles|author1-link=Thomas C. Hone |author2-link=Norman Friedman |location=Annapolis, Maryland |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1999 |isbn=9781557503824 |page=125}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=USS ''Bennington'' |title=Action Report, Operations in Support Of The Occupation Of Okinawa Including Strike Against [[Kanoya Airfield]], Kyushu. 28 May to 10 June 1945 |page=18 |quote=On June 5, 1945, USS ''Bennington'' reported that her maximum hangar capacity was 51 aircraft, 15 SB2Cs and 36 F4Us, and that 52 were carried as a deck park. At that time she carried 15 TBMs, 15 SB2Cs and the rest were a mix of F6Fs and F4Us. She was prompted to utilize, and report on, her maximum hangar storage due to a Typhoon}}</ref> 

In 1936 the Royal Navy developed the armored flight deck aircraft carrier which also enclosed the hangar sides and ends with armor. The addition of armor to the flight deck offered aircraft below some protection against aerial bombs while the armored hangar sides and ends helped to minimize damage and casualties from explosions or fires within or outside the hangar.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Eadon |editor-first=Stuart |title=Kamikaze, The Story of the British Pacific Fleet |publisher=Worcester |year=1991 |isbn=1-872017-23-1 |pages=338–339 |quote=In nine [[kamikaze]] strikes "...The Fleet Air Arm suffered...44 personnel killed...By contrast {{USS|Bunker Hill|CV-17|2}} lost 387 dead in the Kamikaze attack on 11 May 1945."}}</ref> The addition of armor to the hangar forced a reduction in top-weight, so the hangar height was reduced, and this restricted the types of aircraft that these ships could carry, although the [[Royal Navy]]'s armored carriers did carry spare aircraft in the hangar overheads.<ref>{{citation |last=Roberts |first=John |title=British Warships of the Second World War |location=London, UK |publisher=Chatham Publications |year=2000 |page=62 |isbn=9781861761316}}</ref> 

The armor also reduced the length of the flight deck, reducing the maximum aircraft capacity of the armored flight deck aircraft carrier. Additionally, Royal Navy aircraft carriers did not use a permanent deck park until approximately 1943; before then the aircraft capacity of RN aircraft carriers was limited to their hangar capacity. 

The 23,000-ton British {{sclass|Illustrious|aircraft carrier|4}} had a hangar capacity for 36 [[Fairey Swordfish|Swordfish]]-sized aircraft and a single {{convert|458|x|62|x|16|ft|m|adj=on}} hangar, but carried up to 57<ref>{{citation |last=Brown |first=David |title=Warship Profile No. 11: HMS ''Illustrious'' Aircraft Carrier 1939–1956, Operational History |location=Windsor, Berkshire |publisher=Profile Publications |year=1971 |page=257 |quote=42 F4U Corsairs and 15 Fairey Barracudas}}</ref> aircraft with a permanent deck park, while the 23,400-ton {{sclass|Implacable|aircraft carrier|4}} featured increased hangar capacity with a {{convert|458|x|62|x|14|ft|m|adj=on}} upper hangar and the addition of a {{convert|208|x|62|x|14|ft|m|adj=on}} lower hangar, forward of the after elevator, which had a total capacity of 52 Swordfish-sized aircraft or a mix of 48 late-war aircraft in the hangar plus 24 aircraft in a permanent deck park,<ref>{{citation |last=Roberts |first=John |title=British Warships of the Second World War |location=London, UK |publisher=Chatham Publications |year=2000 |page=61 |isbn=9781861761316}}</ref> but carried up to 81 aircraft with a deck park.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Carrier-Raids_Home-Islands.htm |title=Order of Battle - Carrier Raids on the Home Islands : 24-28 July 1945 |first=Daniel |last=Muir |work=NavWeaps |year=2004 |access-date=9 November 2015 |quote=HMS ''Implacable'': 48 Seafires, 21 Avengers and 12 Fireflies}}</ref> 

The 27,500-ton USN {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier|4}} had a {{convert|654|x|70|x|17.5|ft|m|adj=on}} hangar that was designed to handle a mix of 72 prewar USN aircraft.<ref>{{citation |last=Roberts |first=John |title=The Aircraft Carrier Intrepid |location=London, UK |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |year=1982 |isbn=9780851772516}}</ref> but carried up to 104 late-war aircraft using both the hangar and a permanent deck park.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Carrier-Raids_Home-Islands.htm |title=Order of Battle - Carrier Raids on the Home Islands : 24-28 July 1945 |first=Daniel |last=Muir |work=NavWeaps |year=2004 |access-date=9 November 2015 |quote=USS ''Bennington'': 37 Hellcats, 37 Corsairs, 15 Helldivers and 15 Avengers}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Francillon |first=René |title=US Navy Carrier Airgroups Pacific, 1941-1945 |location=London |publisher=Osprey Press |year=1978 |isbn=9780850452914}}</ref>  The experience of World War II caused the USN to change their design policy in favor of armored flight decks on much larger ships: "The main armor carried on {{USS|Enterprise|CVN-65|2}} is the heavy armored flight deck. This was to prove a significant factor in the [[USS Enterprise fire|catastrophic fire and explosions]] that occurred on ''Enterprise''{{'}}s flight deck in 1969. The US Navy learned its lesson the hard way during [[World War II]] when all its carriers had only armored hangar decks.  All attack carriers built since the {{sclass|Midway|aircraft carrier|4}} have had armored flight decks."<ref>{{citation |last=Cracknell |first=William H. |title=Warship Profile No. 15: USS ''Enterprise'' (CVAN 65) Nuclear Attack Carrier |location=Windsor, Berkshire |publisher=Profile Publications |year=1972 |page=56}}</ref>

==Landing==
{{See also|Arresting gear}}

[[File:Carrier arrestor.jpg|thumb|right|220px|A barricade is raised on {{USS|Ronald Reagan|CVN-76|6}}. Barricade usage is a rare emergency measure.]]

Landing arrangements were originally primitive, with aircraft simply being "caught" by a team of deck-hands who would run out from the wings of the flight deck and grab a part of the aircraft to slow it down. This dangerous procedure was only possible with early aircraft of low weight and landing speed. Arrangements of nets served to catch the aircraft should the latter fail, although this was likely to cause structural damage. A [[non-skid]] deck surface is important to prevent aircraft from sliding on a wet deck as the ship rolls.

Landing larger and faster aircraft on a flight deck was made possible through the use of arresting cables installed on the flight deck and a [[tailhook]] installed on the aircraft. Early carriers had a very large number of [[arrestor cable]]s or "wires". Current U.S. Navy carriers have three or four steel cables stretched across the deck at {{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=on}} intervals which bring a plane, traveling at {{convert|150|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, to a complete stop in about {{convert|320|ft|m|abbr=on}}. 

The cables are set to stop each aircraft at the same place on the deck, regardless of the size or weight of the plane. During World War II, large net barriers would be erected across the flight deck so aircraft could be parked on the forward part of the deck and recovered on the after part. This allowed increased complements but resulted in a lengthened [[launch and recovery cycle]] as aircraft were shuffled around the carrier to allow take-off or landing operations.

A [[Arresting gear#Barricade|barricade]] is an emergency system used if a normal arrestment cannot be made. Barricade webbing engages the wings of the landing aircraft, and momentum is transferred to the arresting engine.

==Cold War innovations==

===Angled<span class="anchor" id="Angled flight deck"></span>===
[[File:Cvna1nim.gif|thumb|upright=1.3|Animated representation of a [[bolter (aviation)|missed approach]] on angled flight deck, {{sclass|Centaur|aircraft carrier|4}} showing how the offset recovery area allows for simultaneous launch and recovery operations.]]
<!--[[Image:Ark Royal R09 from top lauch Buc NAN1-71.jpg|thumb|left|Overhead view of {{HMS|Ark Royal|R09|6}} showing the angled flight deck]] shouldn't have pics on both sides of the text-->

The '''angled flight deck''' was invented by [[Royal Navy]] Captain (later Rear Admiral) [[Dennis Cambell]], as an outgrowth of design study initially begun in the winter of 1944–1945. A committee of senior Royal Navy officers decided that the future of naval aviation was in jets, whose higher speeds required that the carriers be modified to suit their needs.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Aviation |first=David W. |last=Wragg |isbn=0-85045-163-9 |publisher=Frederick Fell, Inc. |publication-place=New York |date=1974 |edition=1st American |page=36}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.denniscambell.org.uk/4663/4690.html |title=The Angled Deck Story |work=denniscambell.org.uk |year=2012 |access-date=9 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070012/http://www.denniscambell.org.uk/4663/4690.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fleetairarmoa.org/fleet-air-arm-oa-history |title=History of Fleet Air Arm Officers Association |work=FAAOA.org |year=2015 |access-date=9 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Innovation in Carrier Aviation |first1=Thomas C. |last1=Hone |first2=Norman |last2=Friedman |first3=Mark D. |last3=Mandeles |journal=Newport Paper 37 |publisher=Naval War College Press |year=2011}}; abridged findings published as {{cite journal |last1=Hone |first1=Thomas |last2=Friedman |first2=Norman |last3=Mandeles |first3=Mark |title=The Development of the Angled-Deck Aircraft Carrier—Innovation and Adaptation |journal=Naval War College Review |date=20 March 2018 |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=63–78 |url=https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol64/iss2/5/ |id={{Gale|A255037246}} |jstor=26397200 }}</ref> 

In this type of deck—also called a "skewed deck", a "canted deck", a "waist angle deck", and the "angle"—the aft part is widened, and a separate [[runway]], dedicated to [[landing]], lies at an angle oblique to the centreline.<ref name=SPCflightdeck>{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/history/angled-flight-deck |title=The angled flight deck |access-date=22 January 2013 |work=Sea Power Centre Australia |publisher=Royal Australian Navy}}</ref> 

The angled flight deck was designed with the higher landing speeds of jet aircraft in mind, which would have required the entire length of a centreline flight deck to stop.<ref name=SPCflightdeck/> The design also allowed concurrent launch and recovery operations, and allowed aircraft failing to connect with the [[arrestor cable]]s to abort the landing, accelerate, and relaunch (''[[Bolter (aviation)|bolter]]'') without risk to parked or launching aircraft.<ref name=SPCflightdeck/>

[[File:Cvnanim.gif|thumb|right|upright=1.3|Representation of the {{sclass|Nimitz|aircraft carrier|0}} carrier {{USS|Dwight D. Eisenhower|CVN-69|6}} illustrating how increasing the offset angle of a carrier's recovery area allows the use of two catapults during launch and recovery operations.]]
The redesign allowed for several other design and operational modifications, including the mounting of a larger island (improving both ship-handling and flight control), drastically simplified aircraft recovery and deck movement (aircraft now launched from the bow and landed on the angled flight deck, leaving a large open area amidships for arming and fueling), and damage control. Because of its utility in flight operations, the angled deck is now a defining feature of [[STOBAR]] and [[CATOBAR]] equipped aircraft carriers.

The angled flight deck was first tested in 1952 on {{HMS|Triumph|R16|6}} by painting angled deck markings onto the centerline of the flight deck for touch-and-go landings.<ref name=SPCflightdeck/> This was also tested on {{USS|Midway|CV-41|6}} the same year.<ref name="Friedman">{{cite book |last=Friedman |first=Norman |title=U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-UT7MDTeKj8C&q=carrier+flight+deck+modification&pg=PA188 |year=1983 |location=Annapolis, Maryland |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=978-0-87021-739-5 |page=188}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv41-midway/cv41-midway.html |title=USS Midway CV-41 |work=chinfo.navy.mil |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228171944/http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv41-midway/cv41-midway.html |archive-date=December 28, 2008 }}</ref> 

Despite the new markings, in both cases the arresting gear and barriers were still aligned with the centerline of the original deck. From September to December 1952, {{USS|Antietam|CV-36|6}} had a rudimentary [[sponson]] installed for true angled-deck tests, allowing for full arrested landings, which proved during trials to be superior.<ref name="Friedman"/> In 1953, ''Antietam'' trained with both U.S. and British naval units, proving the worth of the angled-deck concept.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/2000s/2000/ja2000/ppp.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041102054425/http://history.navy.mil/nan/backissues/2000s/2000/ja2000/ppp.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2004-11-02 |title=Awards }}</ref> {{HMS|Centaur|R06|6}} was modified with an overhanging angled flight deck in 1954.<ref name=SPCflightdeck/> 

The U.S. Navy installed the decks as part of the [[SCB-125]] upgrade for the {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier|4}} and SCB-110/110A for the {{sclass|Midway|aircraft carrier|4}}. In February 1955, {{HMS|Ark Royal|R09|6}} became the first carrier to be constructed and launched with an angled deck, rather than having one retrofitted. This was followed in the same year by the [[lead ship]]s of the British [[1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier#Majestic class|''Majestic'' class]] ({{HMAS|Melbourne|R21|6}}) and the American {{sclass|Forrestal|aircraft carrier|4}} ({{USS|Forrestal|CV-59|6}}).<ref name=SPCflightdeck/>

===Ski-jump===

{{Main article|Ski-jump (aviation)}}
[[File:Sukhoi Su-33 launching from the Admiral Kuznetsov.jpg|thumb|A Russian Navy [[Sukhoi Su-33|Su-33]] taking off from the ski-jump on the deck of [[Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov|''Admiral Kuznetsov'']] in 2012.]]
A ski-jump converts part of the aircraft's forward motion to upward motion through the use of a curved ramp located at the end of the flight deck. As a result, the aircraft starts out its flight with a positive rate-of-climb. This allows heavier aircraft to take off even though the lift generated is smaller. Gravity causes the upward velocity to decline, but the aircraft continues to accelerate after leaving the flight deck. By the time the upward velocity has decayed to zero, the aircraft is going fast enough to attain stable flight.

Ski-jumps can be used to enable conventional aircraft to takeoff on [[STOBAR]] aircraft carriers. They can also enable heavier payloads for [[STOVL]] aircraft.

===Flexible===
An idea tested, but never put into service, was the flexible or inflated, air-cushioned, "rubber deck". In the early jet age it was recognised that eliminating the landing gear for carrier borne aircraft would improve the flight performance and range, since the space taken by the landing gear could be used to hold additional fuel tanks. This led to the concept of a deck that would absorb the energy of landing.<ref>{{cite patent |country=GB| number=742240 |status=patent |title=Improvements in or relating to apparatus for facilitating landing of aircraft |pubdate=| gdate=1955-12-21  |fdate=| pridate=| inventor=[[Arthur Davenport (aeronautical engineer)|Arthur Davenport]] |assign1=Westland Aircraft Ltd}}</ref> 

With the introduction of jet aircraft the risk of damaging propellers was no longer an issue, though take off would require some sort of launching cradle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/scimitar/history.php |title=Supermarine Scimitar - History |first=Damien |last=Burke |work=Thunder & Lightnings |year=2012 |access-date=9 November 2015}}</ref> Tests were carried out with a [[de Havilland Vampire|de Havilland Sea Vampire]] flown by [[test pilot]] [[Eric Brown (pilot)|Eric "Winkle" Brown]] onto a flexible deck fitted to {{HMS|Warrior|R31|6}}.<ref name="Rubber deck flight tests">{{cite web |url=http://www.livingwarbirds.com/de-havilland-vampire.php |title=de Havilland DH.100 Vampire |publisher=livingwarbirds.com |access-date=9 November 2015}}</ref> 

The deck consisted of a rubberised sheet fully supported on multiple layers of pressurised fire hose.<ref>Farnborough and the Fleet Air Arm. Geoffrey G.J.Cooper 2008, Midland Publishing, {{ISBN|978 1 85780 306 8}}</ref>  [[Supermarine]] designed its [[Supermarine 525|Type 508]] for rubber deck landings. The flexible deck idea was found to be technically feasible but was abandoned, as the weight of carrier aircraft increased and there were always doubts about the ability of an average pilot to land in this way. The Type 508 was subsequently developed into a conventional carrier aircraft, the [[Supermarine Scimitar]].

The US Navy evaluated a shore-based flexible deck made by Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. using two modified [[Grumman F-9 Cougar#Flexible deck testing|Grumman F9F-7 Cougars]]. Three US pilots had participated in the British flexible deck trials at Farnborough and the US Navy, despite liaison with the British, partially redid the Farnborough trials, with 23 landings at Patuxent River, before cancelling the project in March 1956 for similar reasons.<ref>''U.S. Naval Air Superiority, Development Of Shoipborne Jet Fighters 1943–1962'' Tommy H. Thomason 2007, Specialty Press, {{ISBN|978-1-58007-110-9}}, pp. 190–191</ref>

==Alternatives==
During the [[Cold War]] era, multiple unorthodox alternatives to the conventional flight deck were proposed and, in some cases, experimented with.

The Shipborne Containerised Air-defence System (SCADS)  was a proposed modular kit to convert a [[RO-RO]] or [[container ship]] into aviation vessels, with one scheme allowing a container ship to be converted to a STOVL aircraft carrier in two days during an emergency and quick removal after use for storage. A prefabricated flight deck and ski jump would allow six Sea Harriers and two helicopters to be operated, with shipping containers providing hangarage for the aircraft and housing their support systems and personnel as well as defensive systems and missiles.<ref>{{Harvnb|Layman|McLaughlin|1991|pp=210–211}}</ref> Several variants of the SCADS concept were devised for different missions roles; one implementation was tailored towards helicopter operations for example.<ref>{{cite report |title = SCADS A AND B - TWO VERSIONS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT OF PART OF THE LOAD TO WEAPONS SYSTEMS ON CONTAINERSHIPS |last = Sambuy |first = Dí |date = 1990 |s2cid = 106444551 }}</ref> It was effectively a modern equivalent to the [[Second World War]]-era [[merchant aircraft carrier]].

The Skyhook system was developed by [[British Aerospace]], involving the use of a crane with a top mating mechanism hung over the sea to catch and release VTOL aircraft, such as the Harrier jump jet. The system could be installed on ships of various configurations and sizes, even those as small as [[frigate]]s, enabling virtually any Royal Navy ship to deploy a handful of Harriers. It was intended for the Skyhook to enable not only the launch and recovery of such aircraft, but to enable rapid rearming and refuelling operations to be performed.<ref>{{cite web |first=Greg |last=Goebel |url=http://www.wingweb.co.uk/aircraft/Harrier_VTOL_Jump-Jet_part4.html |title=The full story of the Harrier 'Jump-Jet' Part Four—the 'Second Generation' Harriers—The BAe/MDD AV-8B Harrier II, GR.5, GR.7, GR.9 & T.10 Harriers |publisher=Wingweb.co.uk |access-date=10 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019135316/http://www.wingweb.co.uk/aircraft/Harrier_VTOL_Jump-Jet_part4.html |archive-date=19 October 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Layman|McLaughlin|1991|pp=154–155, 192–193}}</ref> The system was marketed to various foreign customers into the 1990s, such as to enable [[Japan]]'s fleet of [[helicopter destroyer]]s to operate Harriers by installing the Skyhook on board.<ref>Jacobs, Gordon. "Reporting from the East, Japan continues to emphasis its sea defense forces". ''Jane's Defence Weekly'', 1990, p. 64.</ref> Perhaps the most elaborate implementation proposed was the application of the Skyhook to large submarines, such as the Russian {{sclass2|Typhoon|submarine|4}}, to produce a [[submarine aircraft carrier]].<ref>Treadwell, Terry. "Submarine Aviation", ''The Putnam Aeronautical Review'', 1991. pp. 46–54.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=h9QDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA181 "Skyhooks for Harriers".] ''Popular Mechanics'', October 1983, p. 181. Retrieved 31 July 2011.</ref>

The [[Saunders-Roe SR.A/1]] was a prototype [[jet propulsion|jet-propelled]] [[flying boat]] fighter, developed during the 1940s with the intention of eliminating the monopoly held by aircraft carriers on launching jet fighters. Described as being the first water-based aircraft to harness jet propulsion in the world,<ref name="king54"/> the SR.A/1 attracted interest from both British and American officials, with data on the project being transferred.<ref name="king 555">King 14 December 1950, p. 555.</ref> However, officials concluded that the concept had been rendered obsolete in comparison to increasingly capable land-based fighters, together with the inability to resolve engine difficulties, compelling a termination of work. During June 1951, the SR.A/1 prototype (TG263) flew for the last time.<ref name="London Boats p235-237">London 2003, pp. 235–237.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=British Aircraft, 1951 |journal=Flight |date=7 September 1951 |volume=60 |issue=2224 |page=288 |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1951/1951%20-%201733.html |quote=Tests with the Beryl-powered S.R./A.1 continue}}</ref>

During the early 1950s, Saunders-Roe worked on a new fighter design, designated ''Project P.121'', that featured [[skis]] {{emdash}} aircraft publication ''[[Flight (magazine)|Flight]]'' referred to it as the "Saunders-Roe Hydroski" {{emdash}} with the aim of bringing its performance closer to that of land-based aircraft. By adopting hydroskis and dispensing with the hull approach of the SR.A/1, no concessions to hydrodynamic requirements were imposed upon the fuselage.<ref>Buttler.''British Secret Projects : Jet Fighters since 1950'', Page 240.</ref><ref name="king54"/> On 29 January 1955, the company decided not to proceed with the construction of a prototype, the proposal having not attracted any official support.<ref>Buttler.''British Secret Projects : Jet Fighters since 1950'', Page 243.</ref><ref name="king54">{{cite journal |last1=King |first1=H. F. |title=Military Aircraft 1954 |journal=Flight |date=25 June 1954 |volume=65 |issue=2370 |page=828 |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1954/1954%20-%201859.html}}</ref>

The [[Convair F2Y Sea Dart]] was a supersonic seaplane jet fighter that had skis rather than wheels. In the late 1940s, the United States Navy feared that supersonic aircraft would stall at low speeds required for a carrier arresting gear, and therefore would not be able to land on a conventional aircraft carrier. The Sea Dart would land on (smooth) water; then be lowered and raised from the sea via crane. The Navy also considered combining the Sea Dart with the unorthodox approach of a submarine aircraft carrier that could carry up to three such aircraft inside purpose-built pressure chambers. They would have been raised by a portside elevator aft of the sail and either take off on their own from a smooth sea or be catapult launched from the aft in a higher sea.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Friedman|first1=Norman|last2=Christley|first2=Jim|title=U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History|date=1995|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|isbn=978-1-55750-263-6}}</ref> During the test flight phase, the hydro-skis generated violent vibrations during takeoff and landing, while a fatal crash caused by structural failure also marred the programme; the Navy opted to cancel all production aircraft.{{sfn|Yenne|2009|p=112}}

The United States Navy held considerable interest in the submarine aircraft carrier concept during the late 1940s. A study performed in 1946 envisioned very large submarines, ranging from {{convert|600|ft|m|abbr=on}} to {{convert|750|ft|m|abbr=on}} in length, to carry two [[North American XA2J Super Savage|XA2J Super Savage]] bombers for the strategic [[nuclear strike]] mission, or alternatively four [[McDonnell F2H Banshee|F2H Banshee]] fighters. Another proposal would have involved the conversion of redundant Second World War-era [[fleet submarine]]s to enable carriage and launch of a seaplane model of the [[Douglas A-4 Skyhawk]] attack aircraft, which would have been equipped with hydro-skis for takeoff similar to those of the Sea Dart.<ref name="FriedmanSubCar-1">{{cite book | last = Friedman | first = Norman | title = U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History | publisher = [[United States Naval Institute]] | date = 1994 | location = [[Annapolis, Maryland]] | pages = 178–182, 262–263 | isbn = 1-55750-260-9 }}</ref>

==Tasks==
{{main|Modern United States Navy carrier air operations}}

On US Navy aircraft carrier flight decks tasks are indicated by different jersey colors:
[[File:Flight deck crewmen watch as an F-A-18 Hornet launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) as the ship conducts flight operations in the Arabian Sea on Nov 121125-N-NB538-105.jpg|thumb|Yellow, brown, red and purple jersey colors on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
{{US aircraft carrier jack colors}}

==See also==
* [[Aircraft catapult]]
* [[Helicopter deck]]
* [[Modern United States Navy carrier air operations]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Layman |first1=R. D. |last2=McLaughlin |first2=Stephen |title=The Hybrid Warship: The Amalgamation of Big Guns and Aircraft |year=1991 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=London |isbn=0-85177-555-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Yenne |first1=Bill |title=Convair Deltas: From Seadart to Hustler |date=2009 |publisher=Specialty Press |location=North Branch, MN |isbn=978-1-58007-118-5}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=Truebe |first1=Carl |title=Question 29/53: RN WWI 'Flying-off' platforms |department=Ask Infoser |journal=Warship International |date=September 2017 |volume=LIV |issue=3 |pages=190–192 |issn=0043-0374 |jstor=44894908}} {{Subscription required}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline|Flight decks (ships)}}

{{Types of take-off and landing}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flight Deck}}
[[Category:Aircraft carriers]]
[[Category:Naval aviation technology]]