"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

"Guy Alcala" wrote in message
. ..

From at least 1944 on, all American fighters were equipped for or with
catapult hooks, so they could be air-delivered to forward airfields by
CVEs.


I've never heard of that, do you have a reference?


In the specific case of the P-47, I'm guessing you'd need about
a 50-60 knot WoD to make a successful free take-off from a CVE.
Checking "America's Hundred Thousand," it lists the P-47C takeoff run
with full internal fuel and ammo (13,582 lb.) @ SL, zero wind, hard
surface runway, and t/o power, as 2,220 ft.


That may be, but there'd be no need to takeoff with full internal fuel and
ammo just to deliver the airplane.

Which I mentioned in my post. Depending on how far away they were at launch,
and the tactical situation at the landing field, they could be carrying a
variable amount of fuel and ammo. I still very much doubt that a P-47 could
make a running t/o from a CVE under likely WoD conditions (the ships
themselves were only good for about 18 kts), no matter how light it was. High
enough winds that would allow a running takeoff would most likely occur with
sea states that would cause flight ops to be shut down owing to ship pitch,
roll and yaw.

Guy