Thanks to the catapult, a lot of space can also be saved. It is designed so that it can be steered towards two runways, each 82 meters long.

By comparison, runways built in Britain in 1940 were at least 3,000 feet (914 m) long.

“This remarkable structure reminds us of the experimentation and innovation of the interwar period and World War II,” says MOLA archaeologist Susan Porter.

The experiment has been stopped

Between 1938 and 1940, the British Air Force experimented with the catapult, but problems escalated. The mechanism was powered by 12 Rolls-Royce Kestrel aircraft engines, which were also found on the Hawker Hart light bomber.

But all these motors were not enough to power the device, and it often broke down. The enormous forces when launching the catapult also caused it to wear out quickly and it had to be repaired.

According to the scant information about the tests, it does not appear that the catapult was ever successful in launching an armored launcher.

Because of all the problems, the project was halted in 1941 and the catapult was briefly filled with radioactive waste, after which it was completely buried and forgotten.

See a 3D model of the catapult here: