Editing Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryū (section)

===Flight deck and hangars===
The carrier's {{convert|216.9|m|ftin|adj=on|sp=us}} flight deck was {{convert|88|ft|6|in|0|order=flip|sp=us}} wide and overhung her [[superstructure]] at both ends, supported by pairs of pillars.<ref name=p9/> Nine transverse [[arrestor wire]]s were installed on the flight deck that could stop a {{convert|6000|kg|lb|sp=us|adj=on}} aircraft. One group of three wires was positioned further forward to allow the ship to land aircraft over the bow, although this was never done in practice. The flight deck was only {{convert|42|ft|m|1|order=flip|sp=us}} above the [[waterline]] and the ship's designers kept this figure low by reducing the height of the hangars.<ref name=Brown18>Brown 1977, p. 18</ref> The upper hangar was {{convert|562|by|60|ft|m|1|order=flip|sp=us}} and had an approximate height of {{convert|15|ft|m|1|order=flip|sp=us}}; the lower was {{convert|467|by|60|ft|m|1|order=flip|sp=us}} and had an approximate height of {{convert|14|ft|m|1|order=flip|sp=us}}. Together they had an approximate total area of {{convert|61740|sqft|0|order=flip|sp=us}}.<ref name=p9/> This caused problems in handling aircraft because the wings of a [[Nakajima B5N]] "Kate" [[torpedo bomber]] could neither be spread nor folded in the upper hangar.<ref name=Brown19>Brown 1977, p. 19</ref>

Aircraft were transported between the hangars and the flight deck by three [[Elevator#Aircraft elevators|elevators]], the forward one abreast the island on the centerline and the other two offset to starboard.<ref name=c6/> The forward platform measured {{convert|52.5|×|42.75|ft|m|0|order=flip|sp=us}}, the middle one {{convert|42.75|×|39.3|ft|m|0|order=flip|sp=us}}, and the rear {{convert|38.7|×|42.8|ft|m|1|order=flip|sp=us}}.<ref name=p9/> They were capable of transferring aircraft weighing up to {{convert|5000|kg|lbs|sp=us}}.<ref name=Brown18/> ''Hiryū'' had a designed aircraft capacity of 64, plus nine spares.<ref name=c6/>

''Hiryū's'' island was positioned further to the rear and encroached on the width of the flight deck, unlike ''Sōryū'' whose island was mounted on a starboard-side extension that protruded beyond the side of the hull so that it did not encroach on the width of the flight deck. ''Hiryū'' was one of only two carriers ever built whose [[Glossary of nautical terms (A-L)#island|island]] was on the port side of the ship ({{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}} was the other). The port side was chosen as an experiment to see if that side was better for flight operations by moving the island away from the ship's exhaust outlets. After construction of the succeeding ''[[Shōkaku-class aircraft carrier|Shōkaku]]''-class commenced, the Naval Air Technical Department (NATD) found that the portside location of the island on ''Hiryū'' and ''Akagi'' had an adverse impact on airflow over the flight deck. Another issue identified was that the amidships position of the island shortened the available landing area, which had the potential to be problematic in the future as aircraft landing speeds increased with their growing weight. <ref>Lengerer, pp. 91, 93</ref>