The aircraft take-off manoeuvre for on board operations is the most critical aspect of maritime performances. In the last decades, several improvements have been made in order to reduce the number of accidents. One of them is the Ski-Jump Ramp, a modern take-off system that allows the manoeuvre to be performed more safely and using less runway distance. Thus, a new in-depth aerodynamic study of the ramp is required. A wind tunnel test campaign was developed in order to study the disturbances caused by the ski-jump ramp over the flight deck and the influence on an aircraft carrier performances. Smoke visualizations over the ramp revealed a detached unsteady recirculation bubble at the ramp and a turbulent flow over the flight deck. Velocity measurements were carried out by means of Particle Image Velocimetry. The influence of these disturbances was evaluated over the take-off performances of the AV-8B Harrier Ⅱ. The results proved the importance of taking into account these disturbances effects and provided a detailed characterization of the flow over the carrier-deck, resulting in a useful research for future studies on aircraft-ship interference.
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