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Old 24th Jul 2011, 05:41
  #3029 (permalink)  
SammySu
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: UK
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No Elmo, the basic purpose of the ramp is to effectively increase the length of the ships deck by giving you some more runway in the sky. By throwing the aircraft into the air the ramp launch involves a ballistic phase where you are still too slow to fly, whilst following the ballistic trajectory and hopefully prior to hitting the sea you are utilising this extra time to allow the aircraft to accelerate to a forward speed where the wing is generating enough lift to then stay airborne.
In a Harrier II the ballistic phase was minimal unless very heavy, and the required speed for enough winglift was low thanks to it's efficiency. Airspeeds were lower than STOBAR aircraft like Mig29K as you were also able to provide a jet lift component to the equation but the principle of ramp providing a ballistic throw to allow the aircraft extra "deck"'to accelerate to flying speed is the same to all.
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