land cats (catapults) vietnam, for aircraft launch??

[tom d. friedman]

1st i've heard of land catapults for aircraft launch in vietnam!! obviously for short runways & definetely for extra heavy laden aircraft with ordinance & fuel. i've seen land arresting gear for emergency landings but never a land cat launch. i was told this was in lieu of jato bottles as they weren't always safe or reliable. was this incorperated in late ww 2 or korea?? any vids or info out their on you tube?? is this equipment still in use to some degree??

[agent86]

never heard that one Mr.Friedman(fryed man?)but i'm kinda delusional.how are ya?

[tom d. friedman]

dilussional, but hanging in their!! thanks for asking. ha!!! fried - man was a common nickname for me in high school & ohio state university!! also freakman!!

[RickH]

The Marines used land cats and arresting gear at Chu Lai on the Skyhawks. They tried it once on an F-4, the drag links broke as designed and went down both intakes. This was during a VIP ceremony with the SECNAV present, both guys punched out and survived. The second F-4 did not launch and was defueled enough that it could get off to DaNang without the cat. The A-4s had been using JATO prior to the cat installation.

[planenutti]

RickH is correct. I knew this one but darn work doesn't allow reading outside websites.

[tom d. friedman]

rick, you have done your homework!! your reply almost copies the article i read. some video to see would be cool. they couldn't have used steam pressure on the ground to much plumbing, what propelled the equipment??

[maxum96]

Here's a picture of a Skyhawk being launched on the cat at Chu Lai

It's image number 18

http://images.military.com/slideshows/skyhawk-units-of-vietnam.htm

[JDK]

Interesting, but not the first. The British tried accelerators (catapults) for heavy (four-engine) bombers from the late 1930s. It pre-dates hard (non-grass) runways for launching heavily loaded big aircraft from the era when airfields were fields.

The nuclear centre at Harwell has sorted its 1930s one out recently. (PDF)
http://www.research-sites.com/UserFiles ... lt-pit.pdf

Farnborough, and I suspect many other naval bases had land based maritime style catapults for aircraft trials from the 1930s onwards.

[tom d. friedman]

i would assume that the air force flyboys were trained by the navy squids in the standard operating procedures of a cat launch. it couldn't have been much much safer off the ground as off a carrier deck.

[JDK]

it couldn't have been much much safer off the ground as off a carrier deck.

Well, with a land-based failure, you'd a) not have to worry about the ship running you down, or b) an underwater ejection... But they'd be small comfort!

[RickH]

Tom, at Chu Lai the catapults were powered by J-79s. At Lakehurst they have a land cat for initial cat quals and testing, they are powered by surplus B-52 J-57s. They run 'em until they die then grab another out of the can !

[airnutz]

Interesting, but not the first. The British tried accelerators (catapults) for heavy (four-engine) bombers from the late 1930s.

Mmmm, yes the Americans had a few early experiences with land cats as well...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-CvkEUSAO4

Last edited by airnutz on Tue Jun 28, 2011 4:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Pogmusic]

Not to mention Samuel Pierpont Langley and his launching attempts off a house boat.

[RickH]

Not to mention Samuel Pierpont Langley and his launching attempts off a house boat.

And what stellar attempts they were !

[RickH]

Mmmm, yes the Americans had a few early experiences with land cats as well...

Airnutz, I watched your video, yes they are American ( well at least a couple of 'em ), they do use a catapult, but that just don't look like Viet Nam to me !