Rough Atlantic conditions discouraged keeping aircraft permanently on deck. Mediterranean carriers could keep alert fighters there for rapid launch. Spare aircraft also complicated comparisons of nominal air-group size: American totals could include machines stowed in pieces in the hangar roof. Folding wings did not remove that distinction between a spare aircraft and one immediately available for operations. Conditions within the Mediterranean also varied, with an Adriatic winter capable of changing rapidly from calm to rough weather.
Notable Point · 20:53-24:57
Weather and readiness shaped carrier deck parks
Atlantic weather, Mediterranean alert fighters and spare aircraft complicate comparisons of carrier deck parks.