Laura is the archaeology and Life's Little Mysteries editor at Live Science. She also reports on general science, including paleontology. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Scholastic, Popular Science and Spectrum, a site on autism research.
Archaeologists in England have excavated an experimental catapult designed to launch World War II bomber planes into the air.
But the prototype, built between 1938 and 1940, was never used. The device was later buried, and a regular runway was built over it in 1941. However, its design helped pave the way for other catapult systems, including the 1941 catapult aircraft merchant ship that could launch warplanes from ships, according to an Oct. 9 statement released by MOLA.
A towing hook would attach the soon-to-be-launched warplanes to an underground pneumatic ram. Then, 12 Rolls-Royce Kestrel aeroengines, located under the turntable, would compress air to drive the ram."This high-pressured air was then forced into the pneumatic ram, which rapidly expanded to the length of the guided track — literally catapulting the large bomber planes into the sky," according to the statement.
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