To get this thread back on track: New overhead image. Gantry crane position suggests this may be from the day the integrated mast was installed. 
From:
From:
CV-18 Fujian/003 CATOBAR carrier thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
what are the two athwart ship openings on the flight deck abreast and just abaft the aft elevators? They are not perpendicular to the landing axis, which suggest they are not for arrester cable mechanism.
They almost look like access ramps to the lower deck/flight deck. In some earlier imagery they can be seen but closed.
I did not always follow this thread. Are there three arresting wires instead of four?
Intrepid
Major
We do not know. At the moment there are only two openings for arresting gear installation visible.
I counted three so far. Two openings (marked in yellow) to the aft. One covered (marked in orange) just behind the engine room opening. There is no room for a 4th further to the bow direction. There is no marking between the openings and aft, and it would be too close to the aft to put a wire there, I guess.
Intrepid
Major
The right angle to the runway center line is created by cable guides of different lengths.
Can the elevator of 003 carry three planes like this?
