Flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land , essentially a miniature airfield at sea . On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission , the landing area for helicopter s and other VTOL aircraft is also referred to as the flight deck . The official U . S . Navy term for these vessels is " aviation - capable ship s " . Evolution . Early flight decks . The first flight decks were inclined wooden ramps built over the forecastle of naval warships . Eugene Ely made the first fixed - wing aircraft take - off from a warship from on 14 November 1910 . Two months later , on 18 January 1911 , Ely landed his Curtiss pusher plane on a platform on " Pennsylvania " anchored in San Francisco Bay using the first tailhook system , designed and built by circus performer and aviator Hugh Robinson . Ely told a reporter : " It was easy enough . I think the trick could be successfully turned nine times out of ten . " On 9 May 1912 , Commander Charles Samson became the first man to take off from a ship which was underway when he flew his Short S . 27 off of , which was steaming at . Because the take - off speed of early aircraft was so low , it was possible for an aircraft to make a very short take off when the launching ship was steaming into the wind . Later , removable " flying - off platforms " appeared on the gun turrets of battleship s and battlecruiser s starting with HMS " Repulse " , allowing aircraft to be flown off for scouting purposes , although there was no chance of recovery . On 2 August 1917 , while performing trials , Squadron Commander E . H . Dunning landed a Sopwith Pup successfully on board the flying - off platform of , becoming the first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship . However , on his third attempt , a tire burst as he attempted to land , causing the aircraft to go over the side , killing him ; thus Dunning also has the dubious distinction of being the first person to die in an aircraft carrier landing accident . The landing arrangements on " Furious " were highly unsatisfactory . In order to land , aircraft had to manoeuvre around the superstructure . " Furious " was therefore returned to dockyard hands to have a deck added aft for landing , on top of a new hangar . The central superstructure remained , however , and turbulence caused by it badly affected the landing deck . Full length decks . The first aircraft carrier that began to show the configuration of the modern vessel was the converted liner , which had a large flat wooden deck added over the entire length of the hull , giving a combined landing and take - off deck unobstructed by superstructure turbulence . Because of her unobstructed flight deck , " Argus " had no fixed conning tower and no funnel . Rather , exhaust gases were trunked down the side of the ship and ejected under the fantail of the flight deck ( which , despite arrangements to disperse the gases , gave an unwelcome " lift " to aircraft immediately prior to landing ) . The lack of a command position and funnel was unsatisfactory , and " Argus " was used to experiment with various ideas to remedy the solution . A photograph in 1917 shows her with a canvas mock - up of a starboard " island " superstructure and funnel . This was placed on the starboard side because the rotary engines of some early aircraft created torque which pulled the nose left , meaning an aircraft naturally yawed to port on take - off ; therefore , it was desirable that they turned away from the fixed superstructure . This became the typical aircraft carrier arrangement and was used in the next British carriers , and . After World War I , battlecruiser s that otherwise would have been discarded under the Washington Naval Treaty — such as the British " Furious " and " Glorious " - class and the American and — were converted to carriers along the above lines . Being large and fast they were perfectly suited to this role ; the heavy armoring and scantling s and low speed of the converted battleship " Eagle " served to be something of a handicap in practice . Because the military effectiveness of aircraft carriers was then unknown , early ships were typically equipped with cruiser - calibre guns to aid in their defence if surprised by enemy warships . These guns were generally removed in World War II and replaced with anti - aircraft gun s , as carrier doctrine developed the " task force " ( later called " battle group " ) model , where the carrier ' s defence against surface ships would be a combination of escorting warships and its own aircraft . In ships of this configuration , the hangar deck was the strength deck and an integral part of the hull , and the hangar and light steel flight deck were considered to be part of the superstructure . Such ships were still being built into the late 1940s , classic examples being the U . S . Navy ' s " Essex " and " Ticonderoga " - class carriers . However , in 1936 , the Royal Navy began construction of the " Illustrious " - class . In these ships , the flight deck was the strength deck , an integral part of the hull , and was heavily armored to protect the ship and her air complement . The flight deck as the strength deck was adopted for later construction . This was necessitated by the ever - increasing size of the ships , from the 13 , 000 ton in 1922 to over 100 , 000 tons in the latest " Nimitz " - class carriers . Armored decks . When aircraft carriers supplanted battleships as the primary fleet capital ship , there were two schools of thought on the question of armor protection being included into the flight deck . The addition of armor to the flight deck offered aircraft below some protection against aerial bombs . However , to reduce top - weight the hangar height was reduced , and this restricted the types of aircraft that these ships could carry , although the Royal Navy ' s armored carriers did carry spare aircraft in the hangar overheads . The armor also reduced the length of the flight deck , reducing the maximum aircraft capacity of the armored flight deck carrier . The 23 , 000 ton British " Illustrious " - class had a hangar capacity for 36 Swordfish sized aircraft and a single 458 ft x 62 ft x 16 ft ( 140m x 19m x 4 . 8m ) hangar , but carried up to 57 aircraft with a permanent deck park while the 23 , 400 ton " Implacable " class featured increased hangar capacity with a 458 ft x 62 ft x 14 ft ( 140m x 19m x 4 . 3m ) upper hangar and the addition of a 208 ft by 62 ft by 14 ft ( 63m x 19m x 4 . 3m ) lower hangar , forward of the after elevator , which had a total capacity of 52 Swordfish sized aircraft and carried up to 81 aircraft with a deck park , while the 27 , 500 ton USN " Essex " class had a 654 ft x 70 ft x 17 . 5 ft ( 198m x 21m x 5 . 3m ) hangar that was designed to handle a mix of 72 prewar USN aircraft . RN carriers did not use a permanent deck park until 1943 . The experience of World War II caused the USN to change their design policy in favor of armored flight decks : " The main armor carried on " Enterprise " is the heavy armored flight deck . This was to prove a significant factor in the catastrophic fire and explosions that occurred on " Enterprise " ' s flight deck in 1969 . The US Navy learned its lesson the hard way during World War II when all its carriers had only armored hangar decks . All attack carriers built since the Midway class have had armored flight decks . " Landing on flight decks . Landing arrangements were originally primitive , with aircraft simply being " caught " by a team of deck - hands who would run out from the wings of the flight deck and grab a part of the aircraft to slow it down . This dangerous procedure was only possible with early aircraft of low weight and landing speed . Arrangements of nets served to catch the aircraft should the latter fail , although this was likely to cause structural damage . Landing larger and faster aircraft on a flight deck was made possible through the use of arresting cables installed on the flight deck and a tailhook installed on the aircraft . Early carriers had a very large number of arrestor cable s or " wires " . Current U . S . Navy carriers have three or four steel cables stretched across the deck at intervals which bring a plane , traveling at , to a complete stop in about . The cables are set to stop each aircraft at the same place on the deck , regardless of the size or weight of the plane . During World War II , large net barriers would be erected across the flight deck so aircraft could be parked on the forward part of the deck and recovered on the after part . This allowed increased complements but resulted in a lengthened launch and recovery cycle as aircraft were shuffled around the carrier to allow take - off or landing operations . A barricade is an emergency system used if a normal arrestment cannot be made . Barricade webbing engages the wings of the landing aircraft , and momentum is transferred to the arresting engine . Modern innovations . Angled flight deck . The angled flight deck was invented by Royal Navy Captain ( later Rear Admiral ) Dennis Cambell , as an outgrowth of design study initially begun in the winter of 1944 - 45 when a committee of senior Royal Navy officers decided that the future of naval aviation was in jets , whose higher speeds required that the carriers be modified to " fit " the needs of jets . With this type of deck , ( also referred to as a " skewed deck " or " canted deck " or the " angle " ) , the aft part of the deck is widened and a separate runway is positioned at an angle from the centreline . The angled flight deck was designed with the higher landing speeds of jet aircraft in mind , which would have required the entire length of a centreline flight deck to stop . The design also allowed for concurrent launch and recovery operations , and allowed aircraft failing to connect with the arrestor cable s to abort the landing , accelerate , and relaunch ( or " bolter " ) without risk to other parked or launching aircraft . The redesign allowed for several other design and operational modifications , including the mounting of a larger island ( improving both ship - handling and flight control ) , drastically simplified aircraft recovery and deck movement ( aircraft now launched from the bow and re - embarked on the angle , leaving a large open area amidships for arming and fueling ) , and damage control . Because of its utility in flight operations , the angled deck is now a defining feature of STOBAR and CATOBAR equipped aircraft carriers . The angled flight deck was first tested on by painting angled deck markings onto the centerline of the flight deck for touch and go landings . This was also tested on the the same year . Despite the new markings , in both cases the arresting gear and barriers were still aligned with the centerline of the original deck . From September to December 1952 , the had a rudimentary sponson installed for true angled deck tests , allowing for full arrested landings , which proved during trials to be superior . In 1953 , " Antietam " trained with both U . S . and British naval units , proving the worth of the angle deck concept . was modified with overhanging angled flight deck in 1954 . The U . S . Navy installed the decks as part of the SCB - 125 upgrade for the " Essex " - class and SCB - 110 / 110A for the " Midway " - class . In February 1955 , became the first carrier to be constructed and launched with an angled deck , rather than having one retrofitted . This was followed in the same year by the lead ship s of the British " Majestic " - class ( ) and the American " Forrestal " - class ( ) . Ski - jump ramp . Another British innovation is the ski - jump ramp , which came about as a means of improving take off for the VSTOL BAE Sea Harrier " jump - jet " on the small Invincible class aircraft carriers . Initial testing was carried out at the RAE Bedford . They are most common on aircraft carriers supporting STOVL aircraft such as the Harrier , but the Russians also used them with conventional MiG - 29 s and Su - 33 s . The ski jump is a ramp which is curved upwards at its forward end . For STOVL aircraft the aircraft starts by making a conventional rolling takeoff with the jet exhausts set to provide maximum forward thrust . As the plane nears the end of the ramp ( the ski jump portion ) the jet exhausts are rotated to provide upward lift as well as forward thrust . Rolling over the ski ramp launches the plane both upwards and forwards . As the plane leaves the ski jump ramp it continues to accelerate horizontally until the wings can provide the needed lift . For conventional aircraft such as the MiG - 29 the aircraft just rolls down the runway in the obvious manner . Again , rolling over the ski ramp launches the plane both upwards and forwards . Such takeoffs allow a larger takeoff weight than an unassisted horizontal launch because the ski jump ramp provides a vertical impetus when most needed , right at takeoff at the slowest takeoff speed ; however , ski - jump launches cannot match the payloads made possible by high - speed catapult launches . These takeoffs use less runway than a takeoff over a flat surface because the plane takes off at a lower speed , using both the ski jump ramp ' s vertical impetus and the deflected jet engines to generate lift . Ski jump ramp takeoffs are considered safer than takeoffs over a flat top carrier . When a Harrier launches from an American LHA ( Landing Helicopter Assault ) it might finish its takeoff roll and begin flight at above the water . It might not have a positive rate of climb , especially if the ship had pitched nose down during the takeoff roll . Using a ski jump ramp the plane will certainly launch with a positive rate of climb and its momentum will carry it to above the water . For example , an AV - 8B Harrier with a gross weight of on a day and a wind over the deck would require to takeoff using a 12° ski jump ramp designed as on the " Principe de Asturias " , but without the ski jump ramp . For a MiG - 29 launching over the ski jump ramp on the " Tbilisi " , takeoff speed is reduced from about to about ( depending on many factors such a gross weight ) . Carriers using STOVL aircraft and a ski jump ramp do not need catapults nor arresting gear . With the exception of the United States , France and Brazil , every navy in the world that operates STOVL naval aircraft uses ski jump ramps . Flexible decks . An idea tested , but never put into service , was the " flexible " or " rubber deck . " In the early jet age it was seen that by eliminating the landing gear for carrier borne aircraft the inflight performance and range would be improved , since the space taken by the landing gear could be used to hold additional fuel tanks instead . This led to the concept of a deck that would absorb the energy of landing . With the introduction of jet aircraft the risk of damaging propellers was no longer an issue , though take off would require some sort of launching cradle . Tests were carried out with a de Havilland Sea Vampire flown by test pilot Eric " Winkle " Brown onto the rubber deck fitted to HMS " Warrior " , and Supermarine designed its Type 508 for rubber deck landings . The flexible deck idea was found to be technically feasible but was nevertheless abandoned , as the weight of aircraft increased , and there were always doubts about the ability of an average pilot to land in this way . The Type 508 was subsequently developed into a conventional carrier aircraft , the Supermarine Scimitar . Other . Unusual alternatives to flight decks have been proposed for use in the jet age :