Questions for you military types (Jungle Jim)

DirtFlier said:
"...by April 2nd, 1942 , the USS Hornet was passing under the San Fransisco bridge, headed for Tokyo. A mission was planned, pilots trained, aircraft modified, a task forcee assembled...while Pearl Harbor was being rebuilt..

I'm still amazed that the Doolittle Raiders were able to get those B-25s off the deck of the USS Hornet. This was eons before launch catapults and the available runway was extremely short. The flight deck length was OK for a single engine fighter but for a twin engine bomber? All the films I've seen of the B-25s departing show them dropping once clear of the flight deck and who knows how close they got to the water before they attained enough speed to climb a little!
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As a pilot, I can tell you it all came down to the wind speed over the deck. The Hornet was almost brand new and reached 39 mph in sea trials (!) which amazes me. But lets say it could do 30 mph and the capt of course turned the hornet into the wind, which could have been greater than 20 mph. Thats 50 mph in the bank. The B25 stalls about 97 knots at full flaps. They had done pleanty of testing in Florida before the mission. I personally would have taken off any guns, turrets, armor, and left behind all but the pilot, copilot and navigator. It would be great to see a study on the possiblee success or failure of a take off from the Hornet depending on desity altitude, wind speed, and even if the bow was pitching up at time of lift off.
 
Chucksklrst said:
Just think the first B-25 to take off had a lot less flight deck length to use than the last B-25.
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The Hornet was 824 ft long.....not alot of room for plane 1. Even putting the last plane's tail over the end of the deck and staggering them....
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Looks like full flaps to me. Winds could have been well over 20 mph
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RedLdr1 said:
Which is why Doolittle went first. Back then leaders led by example instead of being in the rear with the gear...:rolleyes:
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Check out this recreation starting at 2 min, from a non moving carrier and little wind.
 
Thanks for the vid! Looks like most of the bombers became airborne (barely) while still over the end of the deck. Judging by the chop on the surface of the ocean, I would say that they fortunately had a stiff breeze to help them.

Mike
 
The bow was pitching some. The takeoff controller was watching the bow of the Hornet and tried to sync the takeoffs with the rise and fall of the bow. The rise of the bow gained them a few feet.
 
I was tin can sailor in the Navy, in the first video you can see the destroyer taking water over the bow, brings back memories.
 
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