"What is the point of a non Vstol Aircraft using a ski jump ?
...staggering into the air barely above stall speed ?"
I am starting to despair at the educational standard on this forum.
Indeed.
Stilton, the whole point is that if they're doing it right they should be launching at
below stall speed. The remaining runway required to accelerate to above (1g) stall speed is in the sky. It doesn't stall because while using the runway in the sky the aircraft should be at an angle of attack well below the stall AoA, which it can afford to be at because it doesn't need to produce >1g Nz until it's used up the upwards momentum* provided by the ramp, by which time it will be going much faster and can generate 1g+ with a sensible AoA. The relevance of V/STOL is a herring almost as red as the Chairman Mao bookshop 'classics' shelf.
Hope that helps
*yes, I'm aware that Lt Cdr Taylor's original idea included extending the semi-ballistic trajectory well into the downward phase as well, but let's keep things simple eh?