An advertisement for Brown Brothers lists steering gear, hydraulic equipment, and accelerators supplied to Illustrious-class aircraft carriers. Contemporary terminology reserved accelerator for equipment launching an aircraft from a carrier flight deck. Catapult referred to gear used to fling aircraft from conventional warships. The vocabulary later changed, so this short passage helps readers interpret technical documents and advertisements from the period on their own terms.
Notable Point · 43:34-44:27
Why carrier launch gear was called an accelerator
A machinery advertisement prompts a concise explanation of the period distinction between carrier accelerators and shipboard aircraft catapults.