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Air deck operations upgrade

All elevators are used by US and soviet carriers. Planes are parked on deck. There are simoultainous take-offs and landings of planes/helos. Launching and recovering intensity corresponds to reality. Next to standard, there are versions of vessels (Tarawa and Kiev) with useable on-deck aircrafts.

Here.

Some of the mod solutions have been implemented into the game (patch 0.1.1.2). These are:

• Simultainous movment of elevators and hangar doors
  
• Initial waypoint for taking-off helos
  
• new holding and landing patterns for planes
  
• Introduced holding and landing patterns for helos
  
• Increased landing intensity of planes and helos

Below are things that are still only in the mod:

1) Launching and recovering planes/helos at the same time
Among few combinations, there is helos teke-offs during planes landings (on soviet Orel).

2) Planes
Launching efficency generally is in line with reality - on US carriers it's 2 planes every circa 40 sec in daytime and 1 plane every circa 60 sec in nighttime. In the mod it is averaged to 2 planes every circa 60 sec. All elevators are used but not at the same time. Simultainously 2 cats are used: 1 and 2; 1 and 3; 1 and 4. To see whole cycle minimum 8 planes must be ordered to launch at once.
On US carriers runway catapults are slightly angeled towards and too close to each other to be operated simultainously. It's not safe due to risk of planes ramming each other and air flow disturbance caused by jet engine of previus plane. Waist cats endings are very or too close to port bow cat and deflector, so some planes can't avoid wingtips collision or deflector ramming - espetially F-14s, E-2s, S-3s.
On Forrestal, when 2 or more planes are launched, port runway elevator lifts only 1 plane up. Launching planes from waist cats blocks runway elevator. In cases of launching, recovering or combined launching and recovering helos port runway elevator constantly serves port bow cat. In case of recovering planes front starboard elevator supplies both bow cats.
There are 3 different landing patterns. Planes are picked up by different elevators. Runway elevator on Forrestal was projected to serve landing planes but it turned out, it extends intervals between touchdowns. That's why very often port elevator wasn't used. In the mod it is used.

3) Landing data for planes

• Kitty Hawk. Mostly 50 - 70 sec between touchdowns. Planes go to elevators 2 (A-3Bs to elevator 4). Nighttime/instrument holding pattern and daytime/visual landing pattern
  
• America. 50 - 70 sec. Elevator 4. Nighttime/instrument holding and daytime/visual landing
  
• Enterprise. 50 - 70 sec. Elevators 2 and 4. Daytime/visual holding and landing
  
• Forrestal. 55 - 75 sec. Elevators 2 and 4. Nighttime/instrument holding and landing
  
• Nimitz. 60 - 80 sec. Elevator 4. Daytime/visual holding and landing
  
• Orel. 60 - 80 sec. Elevator 2. Nighttime/instrument holding and landing

4) Helos
Launching spots correspond to typical, real life positions on US carriers. Except Forrestal, not always all spots are used due to elevator arrangement and necessity of sharing one forward elevator by planes and helos. Generally, if planes take forward elevator as first, helos must wait until it is free. But still on all carriers there is simultainous launching of planes and helos.
On Orel there is possibility of simultainous planes landing and helos taking-off. In such case helos use 2 bow spots, that block bow cats.

5) Harrier and Yak-38
In the late 70's AV-8A Harriers were embarked aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42), to prove the concept of integrating Harrier into catapult and barrier configured carrier's air wing. It was succesful but the concept wasn't developed further because both USN ans USMC concidered it as contradictory to their interests - Navy feared of losing funds for catapults and Marine feared of losing funds for dedicated helicopter carriers.
In the Mod Harriers are supported by all US carriers. Planes land in short manner just behind arresting gears. Take-offs are vertical. Soviet Orel supports Yak-38s.
Vertical take-offs are separeted from launching and recovering of planes/helos.

6) Miscellanea
4 DC teams instead of 3 on all US and soviet carriers.

Harriers take-off in short manner. In the code it is easy (follow remarks in launch points section) to switch between STOL (4 spots), VTOL (2 or 4 spots) and mixed take-off (STOL from 4 spots + VTOL from 2 or 4 spots). Mixed operations work if minimum 5 Harriers are ordered to launch and order wasn't given during helos recovery - first 4 will use STOL and next will use VTOL. Mix during helo recovering depends on time to recover all helos. In STOL operations planes form a line and take-off one by one. Hariers are served by both elevators.
Helos don't taxi next to helos with a moving rotor. AH-1 and HH-3 are served only by back elevator. Other helos use both elevators.
Harriers/helis can take-off in short manner during helos recovery. In all other cases planes and helos operations are separated from each other. Helos have own holding and landing patterns.
4 DC teams instead of 3.

On-deck aircrafts variant
All on-deck aircrafts are useable. They are numbered (1,2,3,4) from the bow to the stern and can be chosen which one is ordered to go. Every plane can take every launching spot at any time depending on present state of launching planes from the hangar and on sequence of launching orders. Instead on-deck, aircrafts from the hangar can be used. When hangar is empty on-deck aircrafts are avilable if they weren't ordered to go any time before. After landing and taking a parking spot, aircraft from that spot can't be launched immediately - cooldown time must pass.

Fixed buggy vertical take-offs - wing leader always takes-off as first. Spots 3, 4, 5 are vertical take-off positions for Yaks. In real life Kiev had limited capability in operating its planes. Generally only spots 3, 4, 5 were used to vertical take-offs due to problems with airflow and wings composed of 3 planes. Spots 1, 2, 6 were used very very rare.
Helos use positions 1 - 6 + 7th the most forward. Simultainously 2 helos can land on spots 3, 5. They have its holding and landing patterns.
Planes and helos operations are separated from each other as it was in real life.
4 DC teams instead of 3.
The mod contains 2 additional variants of the Kiev class.

VTOL/STOL variant
8 planes are fixed to vertical take-offs and 8 other planes are fixed to short take-offs and in consequence had greater range.

On-deck aircrafts variant
The same as on Tarawa class. 4 on-deck planes take-off in short manner from 1 launching spot.

Helicopters aren't lifted up when all launching spots are occupied and in consequence don't wait on deck very close to taking-off helos. Rear elevator is blocked when spots 3, 4 are busy. Elevators don't work simultainously to make launching operations more orderly. There is no landings and launchings at the same time. Spots 3, 4 are used for recovery.
4 DC teams instead of 3.

• Air deck operations upgrade - cruisers, destroyers, frigates mod. Fully compatible. Load order doesn't matter.
  
• NTU mod. Click here.
  
• Full Capability mods. Incompatible.