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