catapult launch
Trebuchet-style takeoff mechanism
A catapult launch uses a mechanical device to accelerate something from rest to high speed over a short distance.
The term appears most often in aviation, where aircraft carriers use steam or electromagnetic catapults to launch planes from decks too short for conventional takeoffs: The fighter jet roared off the deck in a catapult launch.
The concept extends to amusement park rides and spacecraft launch systems.
- siege engineWarfare machine for fortifications
- medieval warfareCombat from the Middle Ages
- aircraft carrierWarship with flight deck
- leverPivoting bar for lifting
- kinetic energyPower from movement
fulcrum · ballista · mangonel · velocity · takeoff speed · trebuchet · flight deck · carrier deck · counterweight · acceleration · Newton's laws · potential energy · trajectory · flight path · hydraulic ram · rocket sled · inertia · projectile
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