system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why can't aircraft carriers have longer runways?

I was watching a documentary about the US Navy and they talked about the million design challenges and compromises needed for planes being able to take off and land on aircraft carriers.

But i was still left with an "obvious" question, why just not make the runway longer?  Is there a hard limit on how long a ship could be?

Or keep the ship the same size and bolt a longer runway on top of it.

&#x200B;

Edit 1: also, how do these pilots train? It seems like there's no room for error there.
gpt
You've gotten some good answers. It's really a cost versus benefit. There's a huge cost in making a ship bigger just to have a longer runway. More weight, more operational costs to move the ship, inability to fit in harbors, stronger structure needed to withstand the bending loads from ocean swells, larger radar cross section (easier missile target, and you don't want your expensive carrier to be a "cheap kill" for the enemy). Aircraft carriers already have effective catapult and braking systems, they work well, so there's no good reason to make the ship longer.