Qualified Business Use Of Aircraft

Qualified Business Use Of Aircraft - State TaxesWhich leads us to the issue of local taxes, mainly state sales and use taxes. Horton says many owners have been bitten by large tax bills they did not expect because of a poor grasp of state sales tax laws.

Recovery periods under the ADS system tend to be longer than recovery periods for the same property under MACRS. The ADS recovery period for business aircraft used in commercial or contract carrying of passengers and freight is 12 years, while the ADS recovery period for business jet aircraft used in other trades or businesses or for the production of income is six years.

Qualified Business Use Of Aircraft

"Also, from a sales and use tax standpoint, it's very good to have a leasing structure where the aircraft is dry leased from the owner entity to the operating business. That way, you can usually significantly mitigate sales tax," Horton adds.

A Use Policy Needs Stakeholder Input Ownership

An owner might be well advised to carefully document some personal use as legally allowed fringe benefit flying, a solution that may work for some businesses when the nature of the flight is not recreation, such as going to a medical appointment or checking on a personal investment

. In this case, the IRS allows the business to deduct the aircraft expenses for those flights as long as the owner recognizes some income based on a standard cost-per-mile formula. In addition to the bonus option, aircraft owners can also reduce tax liability by taking what is called the Section 179 Expensing Election.

This applies to both new and used aircraft and related equipment. For 2011, says Horton, you can deduct up to $500,000 for an aircraft-related purchase, provided that the total capital assets placed in service do not exceed $2.5 million.

For 2012, the expensing election is reduced to $139,000, phased out at $700,000 in capital asset additions. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Tax Law”), permits qualified purchasers of new and pre-owned aircraft to elect, for the purchaser's first year of ownership, to deduct from the purchaser's gross income 100% of the purchaser's basis

About Altivation

in the aircraft (what we will call in this summary “Depreciation”). Notably, absent congressional action, this permitted deduction will shrink starting in 2023, dropping 20% ​​each year for four years until it fully expires at the end of 2026.  This summary provides a high level review of key considerations for purchasers seeking to take advantage of

this new, larger deduction. In a November 2015 issue of its "Business Aviation Insider" magazine, NBAA states that the Business Aircraft Use Policy helps set and align expectations among the company's passengers, executive leadership team, board and the flight department.

"You don't have to take the bonus," Horton told us, and for some taxpayers, conventional depreciation might be more advantageous. However, if the full bonus is applied, it can be used to show a loss, which may allow the taxpayer to amend previous year returns and get money back.

This acceleration of depreciation deductions is particularly true with respect to assets for which so-called "bonus depreciation" is available. One tradeoff with using bonus depreciation is that less depreciation will be available to offset income in later years.

Are You Ready To Become The Proud Owner Of Your Very Own Business Jet?

A reasonable interpretation of the provision is that transportation expenses incurred for travel to or from business locations other than the employee's primary place of business should not be considered a non-deductible commuting expense, but should be considered as ordinary and necessary business travel expenses under Code

§ 162 even if the trip begins or ends at the employee's primary residence. Furthermore, the new provision does not provide guidance regarding how to determine the non-deductible amount and leaves open the question regarding the deductibility of commuting expenses that are imputed as income to the employee.

A reasonable reading is that the full amount of the expenses should be deductible to the employer if the proper amount of income is imputed to the employee. Use tax may be imposed regardless of where the owner takes delivery of the aircraft as the application of use tax depends on where the aircraft is based or used most frequently.

Laws regarding use tax vary significantly from state to state as some states exempt aircraft from such tax while others do not have such tax. Owners must also be particularly cautious about how much time the aircraft is used for personal, non-business uses, including entertainment and commuting.

Prior law disallowed entertainment expenses incurred on behalf of existing or prospective clients and customers and other entertainment related events unless actual business activities or discussions were being conducted immediately before, after or during the entertainment event.

The Act modified Code § 274 so that entertainment expenses are no longer deductible. This new rule applies to aviation related expenses regardless of whether the expenses were directly related to a taxpayer's trade or business.

Until guidance is issued, it is reasonable to apply existing rules that look to the primary purpose of the trip from the standpoint of each individual traveler to determine the deductibility of such expense. Finally, the Tax Law introduced a new, but ambiguous requirement for purchasers hoping to qualify for 100% bonus depreciation.

Specifically, "the original use" of the aircraft must begin with the taxpayer. Unfortunately, neither Congress nor the Internal Revenue Service has clarified exactly what this phrase means or how this language might apply to new or pre-owned aircraft.

If, however, an executive uses their employer's aircraft to travel with family to a vacation destination and visits their employer's local office during the trip, this would likely not be a qualified business use of the aircraft.

In this example, although the executive is conducting business during the trip, that was not the primary purpose for the flight, and the executive's fellow passengers were members of their family traveling for personal purposes rather than colleagues or business associates traveling for business reasons.

In some cases, aircraft are depreciable for income tax purposes, but do not qualify for bonus depreciation and/or accelerated depreciation under the MACRS system. For example, an aircraft does not qualify for accelerated depreciation under the MACRS system if it is not used at least 50% of the time for qualified business uses — more on that in a moment — or is used predominantly outside the United States.

And the documentation is important, a detail some filers forget. You can organize it after the fact, but you'll need to keep good records. "On audits, you must show evidence of the purchase price to show the basis you used for the depreciation," Horton explained.

"You need to maintain flight logs, showing the date of the flights, the flight time and route of travel, the purpose of the trip, the number of passengers on board the aircraft and their purpose for making the trip."

The Act also modified the deductibility of expenses incurred in providing transportation between an employee's residence and place of employment, unless the transportation related expenses are incurred primarily for the employee's safety. Before the Act, commuting expenses of this type were generally deductible as a compensation related fringe benefit.

These expenses were deemed ordinary and necessary expenses under Code § 162. Additional guidance should be provided to determine the boundaries of this new provision. For example, does the new limitation include travel between each residence and place of employment of the employee or just travel between the employee's primary residence and primary place of employment?

Before the Act, Code § 1031 provided that no gain or loss was recognized when property held for productive use in the taxpayer's trade or business was exchanged for property that was "like-kind." Under the former § 1031, if an aircraft used in a taxpayer's trade or business was sold to trade up, the taxpayer could use this provision to essentially defer the gain on the sale.

This is no longer the case as the Act modified Code § 1031 to only permit like-kind exchanges of real property. Although this change is quite significant, the impact of the elimination of like-kind exchanges can be mitigated by the new bonus depreciation rules.

All these situations need to be addressed within the Use Policy. Doing so takes the flight department out of the role of "traffic cop" and enables them to focus on what's most important, the safe operation of the aircraft.

"... allows for greater accelerated depreciation over longer time periods, which is beneficial to individuals and businesses as it allows them to deduct greater amounts at the beginning of an asset's life, and relatively less later on."

To get the lowest possible total cost per hour, you need to increase your flight hours. Basic math tells us that when the denominator of a fraction goes up (in this case, flight hours), the value of the whole fraction (total cost per flight hour) goes down.

“So the example is that if you installed, say a new G600, for $30,000, off the top under 179, you could take the entire amount. You wouldn’t even need to use the bonus because the 179 election would absorb the entire amount,” Horton says.

(As a rule, the bonus applies only to new property, while Section 179 elections can apply to both new and used.) Under the Act, 100% of the cost of an aircraft used in a trade or business may be depreciated during the first year of ownership (hereinafter referred to as "bonus depreciation").

These new rules apply to purchases of either new or pre-owned aircraft acquired and placed in service after September 27, 2017 but before January 1, 2023. If the aircraft does not qualify for bonus depreciation, its acquisition cost will be depreciated using the straight

line method. Bonus depreciation applies only if the aircraft has 50 percent qualified business use. That means that at least 50 percent of the hours flown on the newly purchased airplane were documented business use, but there are some business flights that may not count as qualified business use, such as a business flight operated under a lease from a related party.

That is a contentious area that the IRS is currently reviewing. As previously noted, bonus depreciation is only available for aircraft used in a trade or business. As a result, if the aircraft is to be acquired by a properly structured family office that is engaged in a trade or business, the taxpayer may obtain a sizable tax deduction in the year of acquisition if the family office has other business income that may be

offset by the bonus depreciation. Otherwise the loss will be carried forward under the new more limited deductibility rules. Under these rules, a so called excess business loss many only offset up to $500,000 (for married taxpayers filing jointly) and $250,000 (for single taxpayers) of non-business taxable income like dividends, interest and capital gains in the year of the business loss

. In future years, the carryforward loss may only offset up to 80% of a taxpayer's taxable income for these subsequent years. 2011 CONSIDERATIONS Although 2011 is behind us, filing a return may not be, so Horton offered some pre-filing tips.

As part of a larger stimulus package, Congress approved 100 percent bonus depreciation for any new aircraft or new upgrade placed in service in 2011. The bonus means that you can apply the full purchase price of the airplane as a deduction in a single year, rather

than using the more conventional five-year accelerated depreciation schedule or six-year straight-line method. In order to qualify for depreciation, the business or individual owner must meet certain usage requirements — namely, that their business use of the depreciable asset exceeds their personal use of it.

This distinction has a direct impact on what percentage of depreciation an entity or individual is entitled to deduct. For example, if a company wanted to claim 100% "bonus" depreciation but only 60% of its aircraft usage constituted business use, that company's depreciation allowance would be limited to 60% of the cost base of the aircraft.

The other most essential component of eligibility for accelerated aircraft depreciation is that the aircraft's use be reserved primarily for qualified business use, which is determined by analyzing both the primary purpose of the trip and each passenger's purpose for traveling on the aircraft.

Before purchasing an aircraft, careful thought and consideration must be given to the variety of issues the purchase will raise. From the outset, it is critical to enlist the help of competent professionals to lay the foundation for the transaction by selecting the proper acquisition structure and shepherd you through the process to ensure the purchase meets your needs and that the most efficient tax results flow from the

transaction. Said simply, make sure not to rush the take off. As for 2012, the bonus will be 50 percent, but if combined with allowable expensing elections, you can still claim a sizable chunk of depreciation to reduce your tax burden and make the cost of a new airplane for business use more appealing than it otherwise might

well Importantly, this summary is not a comprehensive review or analysis of the Tax Law, but instead only emphasizes that there are a number of complex, and sometimes vague, requirements that must be satisfied to qualify for the Depreciation deduction.

Careful planning around the operation of the aircraft will help meet many of these requirements. It is important to discuss with your legal adviser or qualified accounting professional (prior to making the decision to purchase an aircraft) these requirements to understand the applicable law, and to carefully craft both the ownership structure and operation of the aircraft.

The TCJA introduced a change to the depreciation rules applicable to business aircraft, enhancing the timing and amount of depreciation deductions for such aircraft for income tax purposes. Prior to TCJA's passage, businesses and individual owners were eligible to immediately deduct 50% of the purchase price of a new business aircraft from their income subject to tax;

this “bonus” depreciation deduction was slated to decrease to 30% by 2019. Aircraft used in commercial or contract carrying of passengers and freight, which includes aircraft used in Part 135 operations, may generally be depreciated under MACRS over a recovery period of seven years.

Aircraft used in other trades or businesses or for the production of income, which are typically operated under Part 91, may generally be depreciated under MACRS over a recovery period of five years. A trap for the unwary occurs if qualified business use falls below these thresholds in any year and the taxpayer fails Code § 280F as a result.

In that case, the deduction would be prorated between the qualified business use and personal use, greatly reducing the value of the deduction. Worse yet, if the taxpayer fails Code § 280F in a year after bonus depreciation has been taken, the bonus depreciation taken in prior years will be recaptured as the owner must recognize recapture income equal to the amount of bonus depreciation taken in the prior years in

excess of the amounts that would have been deducted using the straight line method. To be effective, the Business Aircraft Use Policy needs to be developed with input from all key stakeholders in the company. Financial, tax, regulatory and risk-management issues must be addressed in the use of company aircraft.

personal use of business aircraft, business use of private aircraft

Recaro Aircraft Seats

Recaro Aircraft Seats - RECARO offers its customers the best all-round service: from consulting to modifications, repair solutions, or replacement part deliveries. With our comprehensive expertise, we support our customers and partners around the world with all of their needs.

SERVING OUR COMMUNITY FOR OVER 30 YEARS. Southern Air Custom Interiors opened its doors in 1989 with the goal of providing custom aircraft interiors and service at an affordable rate for regional aircraft owners. Initially offering services such as painting and interior work Southern Air developed a name as an interiors shop that makes sure things

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are done thoroughly without compromising on the finished product. Southern Air has continued to build on that same reputation providing quality handmade custom repair, maintenance, design, installations, and renovations to hundreds of small aircraft and jets alike. Our Haleyville, AL hangar has serviced aircraft from all over the country with manufacturers including Cessna

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, Beechcraft, Gulfstream, Dassault, Mooney, and many more. The RECARO CL5710 is the ultimate seat for entertainment, with a large fold-out table and integrated tablet holder. It holds a 13-inch monitor and features additional storage space.

The best part? A privacy divider to offer optimal privacy. RECARO Automotive develops, produces and distributes premium vehicle seats. Our customers include prominent, globally active manufacturers of automobiles vehicles. Through retail sales, the company also provides end customers with aftermarket seats and motorsports customers with racing shells.

RECARO Aircraft Seating is one of the most renowned seat brands in the world. Originally founded in 1906 as Stuttgarter Carosserie- u. Radfabrik (Stuttgart Body and Wheel Factory), RECARO Aircraft Seating started as a body factory.

In 1963, Porsche bought the factory and the company became RECARO, a car seating specialist. They moved on to aircraft seats in 1971. Particularly when it comes to the limited space in an aircraft, our customers benefit from the Ingenious Design of RECARO seats.

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Thanks to their pre-defined tilt, they are intentionally designed for relaxed seating. Special materials improve the ergonomic properties, optimally adjust to the passenger's spine, and additionally reduce the thickness of the seat. The result: more room, more comfort — satisfied passengers.

Now, they're well known as one of the world's top aircraft seat suppliers, with a unique portfolio that offers seating options that continue to evolve with client needs. RECARO specializes in the production of economy and business class seats and offers leasing solutions, training, spare parts, repair services, and some manufacturing for certain fiber composite aviation products.

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Please see our Privacy Policy for further information, including on how you can subsequently change your selection. RECARO Aircraft Seating is a top industry leader in all sorts of aircraft seats. However, they might not work for everyone.

The Best Alternative To Recaro Aircraft Seating

Southern Air Custom Interiors offers custom interiors, including handcrafted and hand-stitched upholstery and unique interior designs. RECARO is a global market leader in economy aircraft seating. There's no doubt that aircraft seating makes a big difference in the quality of a flight, but what goes into making a seat great?

In this RECARO review, we'll discuss company origins, how they make their seats, and how Southern Air Custom Interiors compares when it comes to aircraft seating. RECARO Automotive has been setting standards in automotive seating for decades, having presented the first sports seat for cars in 1965. The first retrofit sports seat, the world's lightest car seat, the most innovative commercial vehicle seat and new sport seats in a modern composite design

also come from RECARO. Even in 2022, CEO Mark Hiller discusses how the company evolves its designs to meet consumer desires. He says that privacy and separation in aircraft seating was a trend even before COVID, which led them to continue developing the "Abrazo" headrests, or privacy wings.

RECARO's newest seat models like the CL3710 and CL3810 boast updated, optional privacy wings to meet this consumer desire. Another impressive economy RECARO seat is the RECARO SL3510, which won the Crystal Cabin Award in 2009 for its weight optimization.

Recaro Seats Business Class

Featuring a slim backrest with comfort netting, coat hook, movable armrests, and literature pocket, the SL3510 boasts a backrest made with netting material instead of the standard foam of other aircraft seating. That netting material adapts to the passenger's spine as they sit for an extended period.

Southern Air Custom Interiors is there to provide quality work for when you are ready to upgrade or rebuild your interiors or are looking for custom repairs, and provides these services at an affordable rate. Know who to trust, contact Southern Air Custom Interiors.

Another trend RECARO leads is the need for antibacterial surfaces, a common consumer desire since the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to being germ-resistant, new seats must be more durable these days to accommodate the extra chemicals from frequent sanitation and cleaning.

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Recaro Seats Economy

Don't underestimate the importance of quality, lightweight, comfortable seating. Passengers are more likely to rebook a commercial flight or charter if they have a relaxing experience. Contact Southern Air Custom Interiors today to learn how we can help you with your aircraft seating needs.

The CL6720 offers passengers a mini-suite experience with sliding doors, privacy dividers, and generous storage for their personal belongings. It is one of the most stylish of the RECARO seats in the business class variety, one of the lightest seats on the market, and top-notch quality.

One of RECARO's business seat offerings is the CL4400, which is meant for short and medium flights and features a generous and adjustable backrest, headrest, and leg rest with a footbar. Currently, there are 7,000 CL4400 seats in circulation on planes.

The best-selling economy variety of RECARO seats is the RECARO BL3530. It features a tablet PC holder, USB power source, six-way adjustable headrest, high literature pocket, and even a coat hook! The ergonomic design, optimal viewing angle for tablets, comfortable cushions, and fabric or leather cover dress for privacy make this seat rise above the rest.

The newest economy versions of RECARO seats are the SL3710s. This seat is the lightest economy seat available, at 8kg per seat. Its materials are durable and less fragile than those of other seats, making them cost-effective for airlines.

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Ranger Aircraft Carrier

Ranger Aircraft Carrier - The elder Saratoga was Lexington's sister ship, also converted into an aircraft carrier from a battlecruiser in 1922. Unlike her sister, however, she survived multiple hits from the Japanese in World War II. Her fatal encounter was with the U.S.

military, when she was sunk as part of atomic bomb testing in the Bikini Atoll in 1946. The initial "air burst" test did little damage, but a subsequent underwater bomb test did the ship in. Today she serves as an attraction for scuba divers.

Ranger Aircraft Carrier

The ship was the second U.S. light aircraft carrier, this one weighing 13,000 tons and measuring 623 feet, was commissioned in 1943. Princeton was designed to carry 45 aircraft. She fought for just over a year and a half before she was sunk at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, taking 108 men with her.

Interwar Years

USS Wright (CVL-49) was the second in the Saipan class, weighing 14,500 tons, 684 feet long, and built for about 50 aircraft. Commissioned in February 1947, she was converted to a command ship in 1963 but retained her original name.

She was decommissioned in 1970 and sold for scrap in 1980. These efforts were constrained by the limits imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty which capped both the size of individual ships and the total tonnage.

With the completion of Lexington and Saratoga, the US Navy had 69,000 tons remaining which could be assigned to aircraft carriers. As such, the US Navy intended for the new design to displace 13,800 tons per ship so that five carriers could be constructed.

Despite these intentions, only one ship of the new class would actually be built. The ship was the lead in a new class of larger carriers. When commissioned in September 1945 she weighed 45,000 tons—though she put on another 21,000 pounds before decommissioning—was 972 feet long and could theoretically carry 137 planes, though in reality the Navy learned she couldn't coordinate operations for that many.

With The Home Fleet

Most of the action she saw was in Vietnam, where she laid mines around North Vietnamese ports and later evacuated refugees as South Vietnam collapsed. She also played a part in Operation Desert Storm. She was decommissioned in 1992. Eleven years later, work began to turn the Midway into a museum.

In 2004 she opened as a museum at the Navy Pier in San Diego. Six Essex-class carriers with hull numbers CV-50 through CV-55 were ordered in 1944, but all were canceled before construction began. The Midway-class carriers CV-56 and CV-57 were also canceled before their keels had been laid.

CV-58, the lead ship in a new class—tentatively to be named the United States, was likewise canceled, but only five days after the keel was finished in 1949. Later in August, Ranger departed on an extended shakedown cruise to South America which included port calls at Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and Montevideo.

Returning to Norfolk, VA, the carrier conducted operations locally before receiving orders for the Pacific in April 1935. Passing through the Panama Canal, Ranger arrived at San Diego, CA on the 15th. USS Lake Champlain (CV-39) was commissioned in June 1945, in time to carry troops home from World War II combat theaters.

World War Ii Begins

An Essex-class carrier, she weighed 27,100 tons, measured 888 feet and could hold 90 to 100 aircraft. The ship served in Korea and helped block Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1969 she was decommissioned.

Three years later she was sold for scrap. Departing the yard, Ranger carried a load of P-40s to Africa for use by the 58th Fighter Group before spending much of the summer of 1943 conducting pilot training off the New England coast.

Crossing the Atlantic in late August, the carrier joined the British Home Fleet at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. Putting out on October 2 as part of Operation Leader, Ranger and a combined Anglo-American force moved towards Norway with the goal of attacking German shipping around Vestfjorden.

John F. Kennedy was commissioned in 1968. It's the last conventionally powered carrier the U.S. Navy builds ahead of the Nimitz-class of nuclear carriers. The ship spent most of the 1970s in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and responded to the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983. The ship also fought during Operation Desert Storm.

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The ship was decommissioned in 2007. The ship is currently part of the Philadelphia reserve fleet. USS RANGER was the third ship in the FORRESTAL-class and the second carrier in the Navy to bear this name.

Commissioned as attack aircraft carrier CVA 61, the RANGER was redesignated as multi-purpose aircraft carrier CV 61 on June 30, 1975. USS RANGER was last homeported in San Diego, Calif. After decommissioning the RANGER was laid-up at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Bremerton, Wash., awaiting possible future use as a museum ship.

The museum plans, however, were canceled and on December 22, 2014, the RANGER was sold for scrapping to International Shipbreaking Ltd. of Brownsville, Tx., for one cent. On March 5, 2015, the RANGER left Bremerton, Wash., under tow enroute to Brownsville, Tx., where she arrived on July 12, 2015. Scrapping at Brownsville was finished on November 1, 2017.

The ship was commissioned in November 1946. The last Essex-class carrier to join the fleet, she weighed 27,100 tons and measured 888 feet in length, with a capacity for 90 to 100 aircraft. She launched the first bombing strike of the Korean War in 1950 and deployed there repeatedly through 1952, and also performed combat deployments during the Vietnam War.

Design Development

Valley Forge was slated to become a museum after she was decommissioned in 1970, but funding fell through, and she was sold to Nicolae Joffre Corp. for scrapping instead in 1971. In the meantime, however, she was used as a filming location for the science-fiction film Silent Running.

USS Iwo Jima (CV-46) never made it out of the harbor. Ordered in 1943, she was canceled while under construction. What there was of the ship was scrapped in 1946. USS Boxer (CV-21) was another Essex-class carrier.

Commissioned in 1944, she weighed 27,100 tons and measured 888 feet, and was able to carry up to 110 planes. In 1950 she rushed supplies to the U.S. bases in Japan at the outbreak of the Korean war.

In 1969 she was decommissioned, and then sold for scrap in 1971 and torn down at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Carriers built after the war were even larger and came equipped with armored flight decks. The use of jet aircraft on carriers also posed significant changes, because of their greater weight, slower acceleration, higher landing speeds, and greater fuel consumption.

Later Career

Steam-powered catapults and angled flight decks were just some of the modifications that were installed to counter the much more powerful aircraft. In 1961, the first nuclear-powered carrier, Enterprise (CVAN-65), was commissioned. Enterprise was powered by eight nuclear reactors (two for each of its four propellers) and had a deck that was 1,101 by 252 feet (the largest at the time).

Over the course of her 51-year career, Enterprise completed 25 deployments to include the Cuban Missile Crisis and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Navy used aircraft carriers as the primary base for American air power.

USS Coral Sea (CV-43) The ship was commissioned in 1947 as a large aircraft carrier of the Midway class, weighing 45,000 tons and 968 feet long. She could carry up to 130 planes. From 1965 to 1975 she performed repeated combat tours around Vietnam, and in 1979 she participated in a disastrous attempt to rescue hostages held at the U.S.

Embassy in Iran. Decommissioned in 1990, Coral Sea was sold to Seawitch Salvage in Baltimore three years later. USS Randolph (CV-15) Commissioned in October 1944, Randolph (CV-15) weighed 27,100 tons, was 888 feet long and held 90 to 100 planes.

Operation Torch

She participated in attacks on the Japanese home islands late in the Second World War, then ferried troops home from Europe in Operation Magic Carpet. She was decommissioned after a relatively uneventful postwar life in 1969. In 1975, Randolph was sold to Union Minerals and Alloys for $1.5 million and torn down for scrap.

In three days of operations, Ranger launched 496 sorties which resulted in the destruction of around 85 enemy aircraft (15 in the air, approx. 70 on the ground), the sinking of the battleship Jean Bart, severe damage to the destroyer leader Albatros,

and attacks on the cruiser Primaugut. With the fall of Casablanca to American forces on November 11, the carrier departed for Norfolk the next day. Arriving, Ranger underwent an overhaul from December 16, 1942 to February 7, 1943.

Independence was the first light aircraft carrier built by the Navy and the leader in its class. Commissioned in 1943, she weighed 10,662 tons and measured 623 feet from tip to tail. She was designed to carry just 30 aircraft.

Independence fought in the Philippines and Okinawa in World War II. After the war in July 1945, she was disposed of in Operation Crossroads, atomic bomb testing at the Bikini Atoll, as a target ship. However, while severely damaged in the blast, she did not sink.

Instead, she was later hauled to San Francisco in 1951, where she was scuttled. In 2001, the San Francisco Weekly raised concerns that the still radioactive hull contributed to nuclear pollution in the area. As work on Ranger progressed, alterations to the design occurred including the addition of an island superstructure on the starboard side of the flight deck.

The ship's defensive armament consisted of eight 5-inch guns and forty .50-inch machine guns. Sliding down the roads on February 25, 1933, Ranger was sponsored by First Lady Lou H. Hoover. This issue had been identified earlier and helped contribute to the design of the later Yorktown-class carriers.

Continuing with the Neutrality Patrol through 1940, the carrier's air group was one of the first to receive the new Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter that December. In In late 1941, Ranger was returning to Norfolk from a patrol to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7.

USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) commissioned in 1943. Designed to carry 24 fighters and nine torpedo planes, she was 11,000 tons and 622 feet long. She supported landings on Iwo Jima and attacks on the Japanese home islands before the end of the war.

In 1953, she was loaned to the French navy under the name Bois Belleau, serving in the Algerian war before returning to the U.S. Navy in 1960. She was then sold to Boston Metals Co. for scrapping seven weeks later.

USS Hancock (CV-19) was commissioned at the tail end of World War II in April 1944. As an Essex-class ship, she weighed 27,100 tons and measured 888 feet, carrying 90 to 100 aircraft. Although her time fighting in the Pacific in World War II was brief, she lived long enough to see the end of the Vietnam War as well.

In 1976 she was decommissioned, then sold for scrap and torn down the same year. Departing Norfolk two weeks later, Ranger conducted a patrol of the South Atlantic before entering dry dock in March 1942. Undergoing repairs, the carrier also received the new RCA CXAM-1 radar.

Deemed too slow to keep up with newer carriers, such as USS Yorktown (CV-5) and USS Enterprise (CV-6), in the Pacific, Ranger remained in the Atlantic to support operations against Germany. With the completion of repairs, Ranger sailed on April 22 to deliver a force of sixty-eight P-40 Warhawks to Accra, Gold Coast.

Wasp (CV-7) was commissioned in 1940. Smaller than the Yorktown class, she weighed 14,700 tons and measured 741 feet, but could carry up to 100 aircraft. She joined the initial assault on Guadalcanal in August 1942 and was sunk there by the Japanese the following month.

USS Cowpens (CVL-25), also known as "The Mighty Moo," was commissioned as a light aircraft carrier in 1943, weighing 11,000 tons and measuring 622 feet. In World War II she took part in the assault on the Marshall Islands and the fight for the Philippines.

In May 1960 she was sold for scrap. USS Wasp (CV-18) was commissioned in November 1943, weighing 27,100 tons and measuring 872 feet. Like most of the Essex class, she was designed to carry 90 to 100 aircraft.

Before the end of the war, Wasp participated in the Pacific island assaults and the attack on Okinawa. Wasp was decommissioned in 1972 and sold to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corp. in 1973 for scrap metal.

Constellation was deployed to the Tonkin Bay and her air wing flew reconnaissance missions over Laos in the 1960s and served off Vietnam repeatedly through the early 1970s. Later in life, she helped enforce the no-fly zone over Iraq in 1995. She hasn't sailed since being mothballed in 2003.

Saipan was the lead ship in a new class of light carriers. Commissioned in July 1946, the Saipan was 14,500 tons, 684 feet long and designed to carry approximately 50 aircraft. She hosted the first carrier-based jet squadron, which consisted of FH-1 Phantoms.

In 1966 Saipan was converted from a carrier to a Major Communications Relay Ship and renamed the Arlington. She performed combat tours of Vietnam in 1967 and 1968 and helped recover astronauts from NASA's space flights.

Decommissioned in 1969, the vessel was sold for scrap 10 years later. All four ships within this class were completed with angled flight decks. However, Ranger was the first US carrier to ever be built from scratch as an angled-deck ship.

She was commissioned into service on August 10, 1957. Named for the North Carolina site of the first powered flight, Kitty Hawk commissioned in 1961. The 83,000-ton carrier served in Vietnam War and was the forward deployed U.S.

carrier in Japan from 1998 to 2008. The ship was decommissioned in 2009. Kitty Hawk is currently Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Bremerton, Wash. Groups in North Carolina and Florida have made bids to turn the ship into a museum.

Reprisal (CV-35) was doomed before she was born. Started during World War II, the 27,100-ton, 872-foot carrier was canceled in August 1945 when she was half-finished. She was sold to Boston Metals Corp. for scrap in 1949.

Remaining in the Pacific for the next four years, the carrier took part in fleet maneuvers and war games as far west as Hawaii and as far south as Callao, Peru while also experimenting with cold weather operations off Alaska.

In January 1939, Ranger departed California and sailed for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to participate in winter fleet maneuvers. With the completion of these exercises, it steamed to Norfolk where it arrived in late April. The ship was commissioned in 1944. The same year she participated in the campaign against the Philippines and went on to attack the Japanese home islands in the final days of the war.

Two decades later she played a role in the Gulf of Tonkin incident, launching aircraft to support the USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy against alleged attacks by the North Vietnamese. An inspection in 1973 found that she was unfit for service.

Ticonderoga was subsequently decommissioned and sold for scrap in 1975. Named after the deceased Yorktown—sunk at the Battle of Midway—the Yorktown was commissioned in April 1943. An Essex-class carrier and supported amphibious assaults on several Pacific islands held by the Japanese and participated in bombing the home islands near the end of the

war Surviving the war, she went on to participate in the Vietnam War. In 1974, the Navy donated her to Patriot's Point Development Authority in South Carolina, which turned her into a museum. She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 2012, the ship hosted the second annual Carrier Classic college basketball game.

This page provides links to selected aircraft carriers throughout American naval history. In addition, check out the National Naval Aviation Museum's website for updates as we celebrate the centennial commemoration (March 2022) of the U.S. Navy's utilization of aircraft carriers.

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