Gord Beaman wrote in
:

Dave in San Diego wrote:

Rob van Riel wrote in
news
On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 17:39:55 +0000, Gord Beaman wrote:

Rob van Riel wrote:
Didn't know about that one, but yes, there seems to be an
overwhelming urge to get just about anyting that will fly to work
from a carrier.

...aaand some that won't too!...did you see the pic of the car
that they launched from some carrier?...how in 'ell did they ever
float that one by the hedshed?...imagine some crusty Admiral's
question..."You want to catapult WHAT OFF MY DECK Lt?!?"

As I recal that was a publicity stunt to demonstrate the raw power
of
the
catapults. A model T Ford that spent all of a mile in the air,
wasn't
it?

Rob


There are pics of cars getting catted off out on the 'Net, but I can't
find my copies on my computer right now.

As for the distance, nowhere close to a mile. If you make a couple of
reasonable assumptions - 100 feet off the water, and 130 kt end speed
- and do the math, it comes out to about 460 feet in 2.5 sec. This
matches well with what I saw during the deadload tests in port on the
Midway. Reduce either, and the "flight" distance decreases
correspondingly.

Dave in San Diego

Why has the speed anything to do with it Dave?...there's no
'lift' so it would fall just as fast no matter how fast it was
moving forward...it should hit the water just as quick whether
you shoved it off the side or accelerated it to a thousand MPH
(disregarding the curvature of the earth - and assuming that the
carrier deck is level fore and aft)

I agree - horizontal motion and vertical motion are independent. It's a
classic physics demo in HS and college. The height above the water
determines the fall time. The cat end speed determines how far the car
will travel horizontally in that time.

100 feet off the water gives a fall time of 2.5 sec. 130 kt = 219
ft/sec. 2.5 times 219 gives you 460 feet.

Dave in San Diego