69

Paper 2

HYDRAULICS IN FLIGHT-DECK MACHINERY

By D. J. I. Garstin*

This paper is concerned with the machinery for the launching of aircraft from and the recovery of aircraft on to
the flight decks of aircraft carriers. The machinery to do this is hydraulic-except for the working fluid of
slotted cylinder catapults, which is steam-and is required to control thc application of large amounts of
energy, in a short period, precisely in accordance with a set programme, with complete consistency and
absolute reliability. Hydraulic machinery has successfully met all these requirements for fifty years, being
developed and revised to keep pace with the increases in the performance of carrier-borne aircraft.
The major dcvelopments-catapults for launching and arresting gear for recovery-are described, together
with somc items of ancillary equipment that demonstrate the versatility of hydraulic machinery. Simple
principles have always been used, but the designs have always made use of the most advanced techniques of
hydraulic engineering.

INTRODUCTION into the ships-for launching only in the case of aircraft

IT IS NOW MORE THAN fifty years since the first attempts flown from battleships and cruisers, and for aircraft
were made to operate aircraft from warships. Two lines of recovery and a variety of other services in the aircraft
development emerged : one was to launch a float-equipped carrier. Most of this machinery is in some way hydraulic
aircraft which could alight on the water at the end of its and, though a highly specialized technique, is a good
sortie and be recovered on board by crane; the other, with example of the versatility of hydraulic power using
which this paper will be chiefly concerned, was to operate elementary principles and of the effect of successive
land-based aircraft, equipped with wheels, on and off a refinements.
landing deck on top of a ship. The major items of flight-deck machinery are the cata-
The former development was aimed primarily at pult for launching the aircraft and the arresting gear for
spotting for gunfire or other warlike activities of the parent recovery. I n addition there are : aircraft-handling equip-
ship, and came to an end in about 1944 with the increasing ment, particularly for loading the aircraft on to the cata-
vulnerability of the aircraft, the development of radar, pult; crash barriers for last-ditch recovery of aircraft that
and the need to cram considerably more new equipment cannot be recovered normally into the arresting gear;
into ships, which necessitated the removal of items that lifts of exceptionally large size to transfer aircraft from the
had proved, in practice, to be of marginal value. By flight deck to the hangar beneath, and vice versa; operating
contrast the development of the aircraft carrier has pro- gear to lower obstructions out of the way when flying,
ceeded apace, and now the aircraft that fly from it are in such as wireless masts and the like; hangar doors, and a
every way comparable to their contemporaries that are variety of chocks let into the deck and designed to be
restricted to operation from shore airfields. As far as ships raised to prevent aircraft being inadvertently manoeuvred
other than aircraft carriers are concerned, the wheel has over the side. As a recent development, hydraulically
recently come full circle, because nearly all are now carry- operated deflection plates of large size have been installed
ing helicopters which have the versatility to justify their on flight decks to catch and deflect upwards the blast from
accommodation on board that the seaplane or flying boat jet engines.
so conspicuously lacked.
Both lines of development depended on machinery built PERFORMANCE A N D SAFETY
The M S . of this paper was first received at the Institution on 30th Performance
November 1965 and in its revised form, as accepted by the Council
for publication, on 24th February 1966. The performance of catapults and arresting gear has had
* Captain, Royal Navy. to keep pace with the requirements of the aircraft; these
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70 D. J. I. GARSTIN

are always increasing in size and weight and their take-off to their limits, with factors of safety sometimes less than
and landing approach speeds have also increased over the 2 between working and failure stresses, as would never be
years, despite a number of high-lift devices that have been tolerated in other forms of engineering. When to this is
applied progressively to aircraft. added the fact that flying a modern high-speed aircraft
The trend over the years is shown in Figs 2.1 and 2.2. on to or off the fight deck of an aircraft carrier is just about
The difference in shape of the curves of speed and weight the most difficult thing that it is possible to ask a pilot to
between catapults and arresting gear is explained by the do, the need for consistency is clear. Consistency is
trend, in high-performance aircraft, for an increasing normally obtained by making the control gear as simple as
proportion of the take-off weight to be in the form of fuel, possible and it has been necessary to reject many otherwise
which is, of course, consumed before the aircraft lands. promising developments for this reason. Not many years
ago, it was held that a performance excursion outside the
Safety of operation laid down tolerances once in 4000 operations was enough
Any machinery that is used to launch and recover air- ro make a catapult control system unacceptable.
craft-worth, perhaps, E1,000,000 each-from ships, Whilst not wishing to over-emphasize the factors of
must have standards of reliability far in excess of those reliability and consistency, they do form the foundations
normally required in engineering, so that ‘Fail safe’ has on which all flight-deck machinery engineering is based
been the normal practice for many years. Any defect, even and always have to be satisfied first, before anything else is
quite trivial in itself (for instance a fractured pressure- considered.
gauge pipe), can result in the loss of an aircraft and its
crew. Storage of energy
There is no doubt that this requirement has resulted in I n flight-deck machinery, large amounts of energy are
development being rather slow and in a reluctance to required in short bursts, with relatively long pauses
indulge in sophisticated engineering, particularly in the between operations, which requires an energy storage
control field. It is greatly to the credit of this predominantly system, to economize on power units. The air-loaded
hydraulic machinery that these standards have been met. hydraulic accumulator offers a means of achieving this
Closely allied to the safety due to freedom from defects statically, cheaply, and effectively, provided that the
is that of consistency of performance. During both the quantity of energy required at one operation is not exces-
launching and recovery processes, aircraft are being loaded sive. This is a virtue of hydraulics which cannot be
approached by any other storage system.

Viscosity
In an application where high consistency is required,
variation in viscosity of the hydraulic fluid is a major
embarrassment. I n flight-deck machinery it is fortunately
possible to use water-based hydraulic fluid, where the
viscosity change is much less than when using oil,

Explosion risk
Water is the only really safe, commonly available, hydrau-
lic fluid. Any hydrocarbon fluid can be dangerous, either
1925 19x0 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975
by ignition of the finely atomized spray that emerges from
Fig. 2.1. Catapult performance evolution, 1925-1965 a microscopic leak, or by ‘dieselling’, which is caused by
permitting fluid to flow rapidly into a closed end contain-
ing air. Both these dangers increase with the size of the
system and with the pressure. The danger from an atom-
ized spray is also independent of the type of hydraulic
system and is very difficult to guard against, particularly
in a system as extensive as that of a catapult. Dieselling
can occur in any type of system under pressure, but is
particularly likely in a system that is normally kept under
pressure by means of an air-loaded accumulator. In a
system where pressure is supplied directly by a pump,
parts of the system are normally opened only when the
whole is unpressurized, though carelessness can cause
dieselling even there.
The diesel explosion, as its name implies, is caused by
Fig. 2.2. Arresting gear performance evolution, 1933-1965 compressing air rapidly, so as to raise its temperature
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 HYDRAULICS IN FLIGHT-DECK MACHINERY 71

sufficiently to initiate combustion in the oil. The most warship photographs of many nations in Jane’s Fighting
common and the most likely way that this occurs is by Ships of the period.
opening too rapidly the valve to a pressure gauge that has Successful catapults to launch spotter aircraft nearly all
been replaced after servicing. A large pressure wave is used cordite as the source of power for launching the
generated, which can cause failure of some part of the aircraft, though manoeuvring was hydraulic. The most
pressure system, leading to sudden release of the potential difficult problem was to retard the moving parts of the
energy stored in the accumulator and disintegration of the catapult itself within the short distance available, to retain
system. Should there be appreciable quantities of air in them and the trolley on which the aircraft was mounted
the fluid, the disintegration is even more violent, owing on board the ship at the end of launch. Many ingenious
to rapid reaction of the fluid with the air mixed with it. variations on the principle of the choke were used, and by
Extensive damage and fatalities have been caused in 1939 development had reached a stage where the catapult
catapult hydraulic systems due to both of these phenomena moving parts, weighing 5 tons, could be brought to rest
-though not in British built ships, where water has always from about 70 knots in a distance of 12 ft.
been used as the hydraulic fluid-the diesel explosion
being the more devastating both in extent and effect.
Catapults in aircraft carriers
The ‘flat top’ aircraft carrier was developed primarily
CATAPULTS with the idea that normal, wheeled aircraft should be able
A catapult is a device that accelerates an aircraft from to take off entirely under their own power and land again
stationary to its flying speed in a very small distance by free run. With the relative size and speed of ship and
compared with the free take-off run, by the application of aircraft, this was practicable in the early days of aircraft
carrier operation, and even up to the Korean War of 1950,
a horizontal force of several times the aircraft’s weight.
The advantages of doing this are so obvious that it is not most propeller-driven aircraft could take off without
assistance from the flight decks of both British and Ameri-
surprising that interest in catapults goes back a long time.
What is, perhaps, rather more surprising is that a catapult can aircraft carriers.
Catapults were fitted in the U.S.S. Langley in 1920;
capable of launching an aircraft and fitted into a ship-
the first British ships to be so fitted were H.M.S.
though admittedly only a house-boat-was constructed
Courageous and H.M.S. Glorious in 1934, since which time
by Samuel Pierpont Langley (then Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institute in Washington) in 1902, and a all British aircraft carriers, except some converted mer-
chantmen during World War 11, have had catapults,
manned, powered aircraft, piloted by Charles M. Manley,
usually two, but at least one. I n the early days, the use of
was launched at 12.20 p.m. on 7th October 1903, thereby
catapults was limited to adverse conditions-for instance,
anticipating the Wright brothers by some two months.
when the wind was very light and the flight deck crowded,
Alas, although the launch was successful, the flight was
not, so the Wright brothers’ record stands. They also so that there was not sufficient take-off run available for
used a catapult to launch their flying machines, though the early aircraft of a detail. On occasions, catapults were
not for their original flights at Kitty Hawk; there is a used to launch aircraft in harbour.
With the introduction of jet-propelled aircraft, this
record of their having used one at Detroit in 1904 and
situation changed radically overnight to one where no
photographs have recently been published by Gibbs-
Smith (I)* showing the preparations for and the execution aircraft could become airborne in operational conditions
without external assistance. Fortunately for the cause of
of a catapult launch in France in 1908.
the aircraft carrier as part of a modern weapons system,
this situation arose at the same time as the development of
Cruiser and battleship catapults the slotted cylinder catapult, which was the break-
The first twenty years or so of catapult development was through that was needed to keep the aircraft carrier
almost entirely devoted to the launching of spotter air- viable.
craft from normal warships. The United States Navy was In order not to obstruct the flight deck, catapults fitted
first in the field and a successful catapult was developed in aircraft carriers are invariably located below decks, with
between 1911 and 1915, when it went to sea in the only a track containing a shuttle, to which is attached the
U. S.S. North Carolina. With this, aircraft could be launched towing hook for the aircraft, actually at flight-deck level,
from the ship whilst steaming at its normal speed and with the hook protruding a few inches above.
without the ship having to be manoeuvred out of line The catapult in the aircraft carrier must be capable of
especially to provide the optimum wind-two essential launching a wide variety of types of aircraft, requiring
factors that made the use of spotter aircraft in battle different end speeds and being of different weight, in
feasible. random order at short intervals of time. It is also necessary
By the outbreak of World War 11, catapults were widely to launch up to thirty aircraft from a single catapult at
fitted to battleships, battle cruisers, and cruisers, the air- one session, though this is not common. It was soon found
craft on the catapults being prominent features of the that the use of cordite as the launching source of energy
* References are given in Appendix 2.1. was not practicable because of variations in rate of
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72 D. J. I. GARSTIN

burning-and therefore of catapult performance-as the the ratio of these accelerations approaches unity, the more
temperature of the explosion chamber increased, even efficient the catapult. Some loss of efficiency is inherent in
with water cooling, during a series of launches in the requirement to build up the load on the aircraft
quick succession. progressively, but skilful development of the control
Both the Royal and the United States Navies developed system and matching it to the aircraft to be launched can
hydraulically operated catapults, using air as the energy reduce the other losses to a minimum. Ratios of the order
storage medium. This type served both navies very well of 1.2 or less are common, over a wide range of energy
and, before being superseded by the slotted cylinder release rates. In principle, variation in energy release, to
catapult in the early 1950s, had been developed to the take account of the weight and launching speed of dif-
stage where the catapult could launch an aircraft weighing ferent aircraft, can be obtained either by varying the
approximately 15 000 lb at 95 knots in a length of 96 ft, programme of the control system, or by adjusting the
with a maximum acceleration of 2.5 g . This entailed an initial pressure of the working fluid in its storage chamber.
energy release of some 7 500 000 ft lb in 2 seconds. At the Both have been used and both are satisfactory, the choice
end of the launching stroke, the moving parts, which were normally being one of rapidity and convenience of opera-
substantial, including ropes of considerable length, were tion. Hydropneumatic catapults latterly worked on a
stopped in a distance of 23 ft. This required pressures in constant pressure cycle, with the launching valve pro-
the retardation cylinder of 10 000 lb/in2, which was high gramme being varied, whereas steam catapults have a
for the middle 1940s. constant launching valve programme and control is by
Before discussing the hydraulic aspects of slotted adjusting the initial steam pressure.
cylinder catapults, the requirements of the control
system are briefly described. All catapults at present work Slotted cylinder catapults
on an energy cycle where the working fluid is stored. The
The slotted cylinder catapult and its development has
catapult is a single-stroke reciprocating engine, so that the
been described often and will not be repeated here.
natural expansion curve of the working fluid as the launch
However, what is not generally realized is the amount of
takes place follows the normal law, pv" = C. This is not
hydraulics that go into it. Though the actual launch of the
what is required. T o launch an aircraft, the pressure on the
aircraft is done by steam almost everything else is hydrau-
catapult piston must build up rapidly and smoothly, in a
lic. Not unnaturally, most of the published documents
controlled manner to a set maximum, which must then be
concentrate quite rightly on the novel and extremely
maintained until the end of the launch. This entails
successful application of the slotted cylinder principle,
throttling the flow of working fluid to the piston during
which is of absorbing technical interest. Here it will not
the early part of the launch and, in all actual catapults,
there is a slight droop in the pressure characteristic be referred to at all, attention being concentrated on the
hydraulic aspect.
towards the end of the launch. This is shown in Fig. 2.3.
Precise control is needed both to ensure that the maximum
permitted piston force is not exceeded, although it must be Retardation
reached, and to approach as nearly as possible to the re- As has been described above, the best that could be done
quired characteristic. The normal measure of catapult in previous catapult designs was to retard from 70 knots
efficiency is the ratio of maximum to mean acceleration in 12 ft or from 95 knots in 23 ft. The aim in the slotted
imposed on the aircraft; the mean acceleration controls the cylinder catapult was to retard parts weighing 4500 lb
speed with which the aircraft leaves the catapult, whilst from 200 knots in 5 ft. This required a break-through in
the maximum is the greatest load applied to it. The nearer retardation gear design. In principle, it was not too difficult
to decide what should be done; a horizontal open-ended
cylinder filled with water was needed, with a choke ring,
!2
3
PRACTICAL PRESSURE
,STROKE RELATION
I into which would enter a profiled ram, attached directly
to the piston assembly. The principal difficulty was to
keep it full of water, when sited horizontally, with one
end open, which was solved by a simple and ingenious
device. If water is flowed into a cylinder in such a manner
as to encourage the formation of a vortex, a helical pattern
will become stable, with an air core down the centre. If
radial vanes are attached to the dead end plug, this will
destroy the rotation of the water as it reaches it and water
will flow into the centre to fill the air core, which is a
function of the rotational flow pattern. The end result is
yl'
START
OF
LAUNC II
CATAPULT S T R O K t - END
OF
LAUNCH
that the cylinder fills completely with water and can be
used as the retardation reservoir. The initial penetration
of the retardation ram into the cylinder interrupts the
Fig.2.3. Typical catapult performance curve water supply, which is of low pressure and outside the
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 HYDRAULICS IN FLIGHT-DECK MACHINERY 73

choke ring. The flow pattern is shown diagrammatically Launching valve operation
in Fig. 2.4, which also shows the water flow during The launching valve that admits steam from the storage
retardation. As the water emerges from the annulus be- accumulators to the cylinders is called a ‘Rotovalve’, which
tween ram and choke ring, it impinges on a bucket, formed is nothing more or less than a sophisticated plug cock. I n
in the front end of the piston. Some momentum exchange order to fulfil its function, it has first to be lifted, to break
occurs as the water flows round this bucket, but its real the taper seal that makes it steam-tight, and then rotated,
purpose is to disperse the flow so that the energy is rapidly in accordance with the set programme, to admit steam to
and completely destroyed. the cylinders.
This retardation system has been progressively developed The control system is well suited to hydraulic operation;
to stop catapult parts weighing 9350 lb from a speed of this enables sequence operation of the lifting and rotating
275 knots (465 ft/s) in a distance of 7 ft. To do this the jacks to be arranged with all the necessary interlocks to
maximum retardation is 1080 g, the maximum retardation ensure correct operation. Further, the exhaust valve,
cylinder pressure 52 000 lb/in2 and the maximum force which permits steam to escape to atmosphere at the end
on the ship’s structure about 3000 tons. Some 32 000 000 of launch, is operated hydraulically and interlocked into
ft lb of kinetic energy is destroyed in 0.03 s, representing the same system, as also is the pressure-breaking valve,
a rate of doing work of 3 000 000 hp. This is the maximum which is kept open at all times except during a launch, to
condition, the loads in normal operation being about ensure that any unwanted steam that finds its way into
one-third of the maxima. the cylinders leaks away without causing damage. Despite
Right from the start, this retardation system has worked its multiple functions, the system is really quite simple and
perfectly. It is a monument to the results that can be is shown in Fig. 2.5.
obtained by really hard thought, allied to a determination
to keep the engineering simple. Although much less Manoeuvring
spectacular than the slotted cylinder development, the At the end of a launch, the piston assembly must be drawn
retardation gear is engineering of equal merit. back rapidly in preparation for the next shot; there are

CHOKE RING
JET RING HELICAL FLOW

RETARDATION RAM O N PISTON ASSEMBLY

,
WATER INLET FROM PUMP F L O W SWITCq -
RETURN TO TANK

DISPLACED WATER
1

Fig.2.4. Slotted cylinder catapults-water $ow in retardation cylinders

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74 D. 1. I. GARSTIN

LAUNCHING VALVES
(ROTOVALVES)-_. ,

PRESSURE BREAKING VALVF

L V ROTATING CYLINDER

PRESSURE SUPPLY FROM L,V ACCUMULATOR

I TWO-WAY -
Fig. 2.5. Slotted cylinder catapults-diagram of control valve operating system

also many occasions during operation and maintenance 1940s, particularly in relation to the size of the system,
when manoeuvring, at rather slower speed, is required. which contains approximately 300 gal of fluid in a typical
These functions are simply attained by the use of a single installation and which is fitted with a seven-throw pump
hydraulic jigger-and-rope assembly, speed variation being of 80 gal/min output. In view of the known danger of
obtained by means of restrictions in the fluid flow. This using oil in this system, a proprietary water-based hydraulic
jigger works at 4000 lb/in2 and it is an interesting measure fluid of American origin is used and this has proved
of the rate of development that it has about the same entirely satisfactory, having adequate lubricating
energy capacity as a complete catapult fitted to one of the properties to enable it to be used as the hydraulic pump
older aircraft carriers. lubricant.
The pump and the system are reinforced by an air-
loaded accumulator, arranged vertically, so as to minimize
Hydraulic system wear and this, too, has given no trouble.
Although 4000 Ib/in2 does not seem anything very spec- Leaks generally and seal failures are not uncommon,
tacular these days, it was quite a large step in the late requiring considerable maintenance, but are not excessive,
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 HYDRAULICS I N FLIGHT-DECK MACHINERY 75

taking into account the extent and complexity of the A R R E S T I N G GEAR

system and its very large number of joints and seals. Historical
Catapult ancillary equipment The history of the attempt to slow down an aircraft after
landing, in a shorter distance than either a free run or the
It is necessary, in order to launch an aircraft by means of
a catapult, to position it laterally in relation to the catapult machine’s own brakes can achieve, does not go back quite
track with precision, greater than the taxying accuracy of so far as launch assistance. I n 1911, an American aviator
the average pilot. The frequency of abortive attempts to landed an aircraft on to a platform 120 ft long, mounted
load the aircraft and the delays in launching caused thereby on the battleship U.S.S. Pennsylvania, but this employed
sandbags as the arresting medium and therefore hardly
seriously reduce the usefulness of the catapult as a method
counts as an hydraulic operation.
of helping aircraft to become airborne. A device known as a
The United States Navy developed the transverse wire
roller mat positioner was therefore developed to do this
type of arresting gear during the 1920s and an independent
job mechanically. The positioner consists of two frame-
development took place in Britain in the early 1930s, the
works, set either side of the catapult track, in the loading
first ship to be fitted being H.M.S. Courageous in 1933.
area, in which are mounted rollers, with their axes parallel
Since then, all aircraft carriers have been fitted with
to each other and to the track. The tops of the rollers are
arresting gear, which has been progressively developed to
A ush with the deck and their surfaces are fluted, to improve
keep pace with the requirements for recovering aircraft.
grip on the tyres. These rollers can be rotated so as to
Unlike the catapult, which was a convenience rather than a
produce translation of any object placed upon them
necessity until about 1950, the arresting gear has been
towards the catapult track. In addition, they can be clutched
used as an essential feature of aircraft carrier operation
into or out of or released from the driving mechanism. If
since the middle 1930s. Even in those days, its landing
the pitch between driven rollers on either side of the track
run was too great to permit a military aircraft of reasonable
centre line is selected to be the same as the track of the
capability in the air to land on deck without externally
aircraft main wheels, then an aircraft coming up off
applied retardation. The landing interval between succes-
centre will be fleeted sideways by the driven rollers on the
sive aircraft also required a deck park of recovered air-
side to which it is off centre, the other main wheel moving
craft, protected from the landing area by a crash barrier.
freely on the free rollers, until it is accurately positioned.
This reduced even further the landing run available on the
At the same time, the wheels come to rest against chocks,
deck and increased reliance on arresting gear.
to make sure that the aircraft is aligned with the catapult.
This device, which is shown in Fig. 2.6, is hydraulically
driven and the clutches are hydraulically operated. A Transverse wire arresting gear operation
motor-driven pump is sited conveniently below decks, The arrangement of the arresting gear is shown in
with the hydraulic motor in the frame box containing the Fig. 2.8. A wire is stretched across the landing path of the
rollers and which is fitted in a shallow trough in the deck, aircraft and is engaged by a hook attached to the aircraft.
some 12 in deep. The aircraft pulls the bight of the wire after it, which
This may seem an example where the use of hydrostatic in turn draws off more wire from the jigger, thereby
drive is hardly justified; after all, rotary motion is required compressing it. The fluid displaced by movement of the
and direct electric-motor drive might seem a better solu- jigger piston is passed through an orifice, in accordance
tion. When looked at as a problem in engineering installa- with a previously decided programme, thus destroying
tion, however, hydraulic drive is much superior. The zone energy.
immediately below the site on deck where the positioner The performance of a transverse wire arresting gear is a
mats must go is extremely congested, so that it is quite combination of impact, inertia, and hydraulic effects. The
impossible to fit there a large 20 hp electric motor. No impact effect comes first; both in theory and in practice
motor running at the required speed, which is slow, could it is complex and will not be discussed here, except to
possibly be made small enough to fit in the box frame on remark that it can, in some circumstances, dominate the
deck, so that direct drive would involve some unpleasant whole arresting process. As the impact effects decay, they
drive shaft geometry problems; in addition repair work are succeeded by those of inertia of the moving parts.
that may be required on catapult steam-side components Owing to the geometry of the transverse wire, these come
involves lifting the positioner mats and this is made into action relatively slowly, but they are substantial
markedly easier where only a few pipes, in addition to the owing to the considerable weight of the moving parts that
holding down belts, have to be disconnected. must be accelerated as the wire is drawn out. Lastly, the
Therefore this positioner is an excellent example of the hydraulic effect takes over and this provides the majority
virtues of hydrostatic drive both in flexibility of installation of the energy destruction. The aircraft feels rope tension,
and in driving a low-speed high-torque motor from a high- so that the aim is to keep this as constant as possible;
speed low-torque pump; in this particular use, efficiency should this be attained, then the geometry of the trans-
of power transmission is of almost no account, whilst verse wire would permit a maximum to mean deceleration
flexibility of installation is all-important. A photograph of ratio of about 1.2. In practice, because of the combination
a typical positioner is given in Fig. 2.7. of the three effects of impact, inertia, and hydraulic
Proc Instn M e c h Engrs 1965-66 Vo1180 Pt 3L
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 Fig. 2.6. Arrangement of roller mat positioner for catapult

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 HYDRAULICS I N FLIGHT-DECK MACHINERY 77

Fig. 2.7. General view of roller mat positioner

Fig. 2.8. Diagram of typical arresting gear arrangermiit in U ~ Zaircraft carrier

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78 D. J. I. GARSTIN

resistance, 1.4 is the best that can be done, with a charac- size to extend the range of energy absorption of the
teristic as shown in Fig. 2.9. gear.
The reeve ratio of the jigger is as high as possible, in
order to provide as much pull-out of wire on deck, with Current gears
the minimum size of pressure cylinder below. Diameters When designing the arresting gears now in service, which
of cylinder are of the order of 15 in and the working have an energy absorbing capability much greater than
pressure at this diameter is about 10 000 lb/inz. The that of the earlier gears, it was clear that, not only would
design of the crossheads on which the rope pulleys are they have to be much larger, but also that they would
mounted is critical, as also are the strength and stability have to operate at substantially higher pressure if they
of the piston rod as a strut. In fact, in later designs there were to be kept to an overall size that could be installed
is no piston rod as such, the ram being the same diameter in an aircraft carrier. The range of energy required was
along its full length. such that the choke ring and cut-off rod, plus a by-pass
The orifice area, through which the working fluid is valve that had served so well previously, could not be used.
squeezed to destroy energy, needs to be varied throughout I n addition, the pressure, about 10000 lb/in2, at which
the stroke of the ram to give the required retardation the gear was going to operate, gave rise to some doubt
performance. This can be done either by an internal about the stability of the cut-off rod as a tube subjected
choke ring and cut-off rod arrangement, or an external to external pressure.
relief valve. A third method is to fit a simple relief valve, It was therefore decided to use an external relief valve
where the resistance to movement during an arrest is and to pass the whole of the fluid into an accumulator.
carried out at constant pressure, and altering the relieving The use of a pressure-sensitive relief valve having been
pressure provides for a wide range of energy absorption. discredited, the basic requirement was that the relief
This arrangement has been used in practice, but has valve should conform to a programme related to ram
proved unsatisfactory, because there is considerable movement and that it should be capable of adjustment
variation in the aircraft approach speed and an exception- over a wide range of energy absorption without external
ally fast aircraft bottoms the gear; this puts a heavy shock by-passes. This problem was solved by the use of what
load on gear and aircraft and probably damages both. A has been called a spline valve, which gave a gear arrange-
gear that relies on an orifice programme proportional to the ment shown in Fig. 2.8 and whose principle of operation
stroke does not do this, because the pressure drop across is shown in Fig. 2.10.
the orifice is a function of the speed of movement of The control valve consists of a piston moving axially in
the ram, so that it adjusts itself to stop a fast-landing a cylinder, through a choke ring in which it is a close fit.
aircraft. As can be seen from Fig. 2.10 the flow of fluid from the
The early types of gear, which went out of production arresting gear main cylinder passes through diametrically
in the late 1940s, used a profiled cut-off rod, with a choke opposed slots in the choke ring and then through an
ring of constant size attached to the piston. By displacing orifice formed by the choke ring and axial grooves cut in
some of the fluid into an accumulator during the arresting the periphery of the piston. The grooves are vee-shaped
process, enough energy could be stored to reset the gear and their depth is varied over the length of the piston;
after use without the need for external power and this thus, if the piston is moved axially along the cylinder during
feature of regeneration has been preserved in all subse- the course of operation of the arresting gear, an orifice
quent arresting gears in the interests of reliability and programme proportional to the movement of the gear
simplicity. To provide for the widest range of aircraft main ram can be obtained. Additionally, if several sets of
kinetic energy destruction, the programmed orifice axial grooves are cut in the periphery of the piston, by
between the choke ring and the cut-off rod was supple- indexing the latter to a different radial position, grooves
mented by another orifice in parallel, that was fixed for with varying characteristics can be brought into use as
any one set of conditions, but which could be varied in part of the variable orifice. The piston is driven axially by
an auxiliary piston and cylinder attached to the main
piston crosshead, with areas arranged so that the move-
ment of the control piston, or spline valve, is smaller than
that of the crosshead. Thus, by the use of hydraulics to
the best advantage, a device of great elegance has been
developed that fulfils the functions of two valves in pre-
vious designs and which is variable at will over a wide
range of performance. It is relatively simple to manufac-
ture and has the advantage that very high pressures are
confined to comparatively small components, mostly of
___+
plain cylindrical shape, that can be made sufficiently strong
AIRCRAFT AIRCRAFT
HOOK
EkGAGED
STOPDEC quite simply.
The spline valve has proved entirely successful and is a
Fig. 2.9. Tjlpical arresting gear performance curve first-class example of the adaptability of hydraulics to
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 HYDRAULICS I N FLIGHT-DECK MACHINERY 79

TO AIR LOADED ACCUMULATOR

Fag. 2.10. Arresting gear spline valve simplified $ow diagram

meet special requirements and, further, of an adaptability cost. Its potential as a safety device for the runways of
that can be realized at reasonable cost. large commercial airports gives hope that it may be used
at some future date to reduce the danger ofaborted take-off.
The future arresting gear
The present type of arresting gear is approaching the AIRCRAFT LIFTS
limit of its development, not hydraulically, but from every All aircraft carriers are arranged with the hangar im-
other point of view, particularly in connection with the mediately below the fight deck and aircraft are transferred
inertia of the moving parts. For some years, work has been from one to the other by means of a lift. By normal
proceeding at the Royal Aircraft Establishment on arrest- standards, these lifts are very large, having platforms of
ing gears employing long tubes, in which move pistons, up to 60 ft x 40 ft, weighing upwards of 50 tons and capable
connected by flexible wire-rope piston rods directly, over of carrying a weight of about 20 tons, through a distance
pulleys, to the transverse span that makes contact with the of about 20 ft. The lift is specified to be capable of striking
aircraft hook (2). aircraft down from flight deck to hangar without power
These have been developed principally for airfields, being available and of returning, unloaded, to the flight
where the pull-out distance through which an aircraft can deck position. This can be attained by over-balancing the
be permitted to move during the arresting process is very platform itself.
much greater than in a ship, with correspondingly reduced Some lifts are worked mechanically, but a fair number
deceleration. The tubes, which have orifices in their walls are hydraulic. The main advantage of hydraulic operation
all along their length and are filled with water, can con- is flexibility in siting the operating machinery, a matter
veniently be disposed either side of a runway. During an of some importance, because the lift machinery is both
arrest, water is forced out of the holes into the atmosphere bulky and heavy and, for a mechanical drive, must be
by the passage of the piston, and the energy of the aircraft positioned where everyone would much prefer not to
is thereby destroyed. A photograph of the water spray have it. However, in this case, the price to be paid for this
arising from an arrest is shown in Fig. 2.11. flexibility is both size and complication.
A version of this type of gear, but enclosed so as to
prevent water from spraying around and equipped for CONCLUSION
rapid resetting, is at present under development, with a The descriptions of the various items of flight-deck
view to its use in aircraft carriers. If successful it will be a machinery in this paper have necessarily been somewhat
break-through in arresting gear technology comparable cursory, to fit within the confines of a single paper. Each
to that of the slotted cylinder catapult. It works very well section could easily be expanded to form a paper on its own.
in the airfield version where, despite its somewhat The main factor that emerges is the capability of simple
unusual application, the rope forming the piston rod has hydraulic machinery to perform functions of a very
so far given no trouble. specialized nature, in which the supply and precise control
This type of gear has great potential and in principle it of large amounts of power are involved, and to do this
is possible to use it to stop the largest aircraft yet envisaged, without excessive development cost.
with an installation that is itself relatively insignificant in The practical difficulties have nearly always loomed
I’roc Instn Mech Engrs 1965-66 Vol180 Pt 3L
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80 D. J. I. GARSTIN

Fig. 2.11. Water spray arresting gear at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
much larger than the theoretical. The actual machinery The author wishes to acknowledge the help of Messrs
components are large and the scale effect thus introduced Brown Bros Ltd, of Edinburgh, for the supply of figures
has presented many manufacturing problems, including and information on catapults and of Messrs MacTaggart-
such basic factors as the size of forgings that could be Scott Ltd of Loanhead, for figures and information on
produced with the physical strength that was required. arresting gear.
Over the years, development has been progressive, so that All illustrations are Crown copyright. Fig. 2.11 is
improved techniques have been used as they became reproduced by permission of the Director, Royal Aircraft
available, to improve both performance and reliability Establishment.
simultaneously. The author wishes to thank Mr C. C. Mitchell, O.B.E.,
Only a handful of engineers work on flight-deck and Mr R. G. Prenter, O.B.E., for providing much
machinery and it would be quite impossible for develop- information, particularly of the early developments. Mr
ment to have gone at the speed it has, if the general Mitchell is the inventor of the slotted cylinder catapult;
advance of the technology of hydraulic machinery had not without his work this paper would have been pointless
also been rapid during the last twenty years. It is certain and without his help, worthless.
that without hydraulic flight-deck machinery the aircraft
carrier as we know it today could not exist. A P P E N D I X 2.1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS REFERENCES

This paper is published with permission of the Ministry (I) GIBBS-SMITH,C. The Wright brothers 1963 (H.M.
H.
of Defence, but the opinions expressed in it are those of Stationery Office).
(2) THOMLINSON, J. ‘A linear hydraulic energy absorber for
the author and do not necessarily represent Ministry of aircraft arresting gears’, Tech. Note Naval 54, 1964
Defence policy. (Royal Aircraft Establishment, Bedford).
Proc Instn Mech Engrs 1965-66 Vo1180 Pt 3L
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