Helicopters force taller carrier hangars

The hangar needs enough clearance to stow the aircraft, lift components, and inspect the rotor head safely while the ship moves. A Whirlwind-height machine leaves too little working space in most sixteen- or seventeen-foot interwar hangars, so both navies are pushed toward roughly eighteen feet. USS Langley might remain an American test bed, while HMS Argus would be tighter for tall rotorcraft despite her fixed-wing capacity. Adding that height to one or two hangar decks raises the flight deck, affects stability and silhouette, and changes where an armored deck can sit. It could also make deck-edge elevators more attractive on the Illustrious class by easing the internal arrangement and weight problem. HMS Eagle's unusually tall hangar would make her a particularly useful helicopter-development ship while Furious, Courageous, and Glorious continued other carrier experiments.