How early arresting wires kept aircraft on the deck

HMS Furious shows how early flight decks and landing aids differed from mature carrier practice. Her rounded bow and rising after deck were intended to smooth airflow and help landing aircraft lose speed by climbing a slope. Early arresting cables ran longitudinally, chiefly to keep an aircraft from skidding over the deck edge. Later transverse wires performed the more familiar job of bringing the aircraft to a halt, completing the shift toward mature carrier landing systems.