isn’t better for planes on carriers to start at the top of the ramp and get more speed down for takeoff instead of climbing the ramp?

Question

isn’t better for planes on carriers to start at the top of the ramp and get more speed down for takeoff instead of climbing the ramp?

In: 5

Answer 1

You can transform height into speed.

The problem is:

Potential energy = weight x height. If you double the length you go downhill, you just double the energy you receive.

But what you need for speed works with this equation:

Kinetic energy = mass x (speed squared)

Let’s say the energy needed to go 1 km/h is 1 energy unit.

If your target is 2 km/h, you need 4 energy units.

If your target is 20km/h, you need 400 energy units.

If your target is 200km/h, you need 40000 energy units.

At that point, any ride downhill is negligible in achieving speed.

So, what they do is to get to high speed by massive engine power, then take the ramp, and the ramp converts that speed into some vertical speed. It’s not about getting more energy, is to direct the energy toward a better direction.

Then by the time the plane loses the vertical boost that it got from the ramp, the engines have added more speed to the plane and it can hopefully be fast enough for safe flight.