Archaeologists were able to find an experimental World War II catapult that was initially developed to deploy bomber planes.
World War II Catapult Unearthed
According to the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), the WWII catapult, named the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Mark III Catapult, was designed in order to conserve fuel of warplanes and make shorter runways than the usual airfields. It was constructed between 1938 and 1940.
Interestingly, the WWII catapult prototype was never used before. Later on, it ended up getting buried while a typical runway was constructed on top of it.
Nevertheless, the design of this catapult helped in paving the way for the development of other systems, such as the catapult aircraft merchant (CAM) ship from 1941. This CAM ship was capable of launching planes atop ships.
According to project officer Susan Porter of MOLA, the newfound WWII catapult sheds light on the fast innovation and experimentation during the years of interwar and of World War II.
A Prototype That Was Never Used
The catapult was excavated before construction work started at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, which is a mix of industry, academic, and government research teams. The excavation showed the inner workings of the device, further revealing that its circular pit was 30-meters wide and was topped with a turntable.
The turntable aimed planes to one out of two track runways, which spanned 82-meters long. Modern runways designed for planes below 90,718 kilograms span at least 1,829 meters in length.
A hook for towing would then be linked to the warplanes that are set for launching. They will get linked to a pneumatic ram that is underground. Afterward, 12 Rolls-Royce Kestrel aeroengines would then perform air compression for the ram to be driven. The high-pressured air would then get forced into the ram, which then expanded until it reached the guided track's length.
However, the WWII catapult prototype never properly functioned, partially because it could not fit the bomber planes it was designed to deploy. Following the abandonment of the catapult and the end of the war, the pit was then used for radioactive waste storage. The waste was then removed, but the device stayed buried until it was recently excavated.
Further excavations in the area showed that there was a runway nearby and even some runway lights. There was also a gun emplacement that was previously unknown and that was designed to defend the runway.
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