Ok, so I looked at the skateboard ramp. Looks about 10 feet high. So the difference is the the plane will leave the deck ten feet higher off the water than a plane leaving a flat surface. So what? Seems that going up the ramp would slow the plane down a bit. I don’t get the purpose of the ramp.
Ok, so I looked at the skateboard ramp. Looks about 10 feet high. So the difference is the the plane will leave the deck ten feet higher off the water than a plane leaving a flat surface. So what? Seems that going up the ramp would slow the plane down a bit. I don’t get the purpose of the ramp10 foot higher and with a vertical velocity component. So it is now flying a semi-ballistic path even without full wing support. It gives 1-2 seconds before it starts descending - enough to accelerate from 85 to 170 knots and full wing supported flying