Did the USN land a C-130 on an aircraft carrier?

Yes they did:



In my mind this was never even considered. But obviously it was considered and done and done well. I suppose the only flaw would be that I am thinking there would be no way this would be possible with rough seas or general inclement weather.

Say what you will about the United States, but we do things no one else can.

F111

Impressive..Most Impressive...

It was one of their more insane ideas.

originally posted by: anzha

Holy crap!!

a reply to: Woody510

They flew several missions monitoring French nuclear tests in the South Pacific.

Even more insane-

Don't tell me it took off from the carrier. I'm thinking it took up the flight deck and rendered an entire carrier useless until they could disassemble it and get it to a proper airstrip. I'll read the story now just giving my first thoughts. Echoes of James Doolittle ring in my head.

I really thought they needed more than 900 feet to take off.
Likely needed a stiff headwind and ship at full steam in to it.

a reply to: Asktheanimals

Landed and took off again no problem. But you hit on exactly why it would make a lousy COD.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I'm totally missing something in that pic I think? What's more insane the fact they're landing on a CV when they have aerial refuelling?

a reply to: Woody510

The U-2 is an extremely difficult aircraft to fly. It has no hydraulics, and requires a lot of force to move the controls. Landing on a carrier is relatively easy compared to staying on the boom. Only a couple aircraft were actually modified for IFR.

WOW!! I'm really surprised they were able to take off again.
I was thinking maybe they used jet boosters for takeoff but I didn't see any on that bird.

a reply to: Vigilantastrum

No, just their short takeoff ability and the fact that they were light as hell.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Are those the same kc135s modded for the sr71??

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Vigilantastrum

No, just their short takeoff ability and the fact that they were light as hell.

Pretty sure JATO was in their wheelhouse then they took off... or am I mistaken.

a reply to: Fools

Say what you will about the United States, but we do things no one else can.

Well lets see if you can do this.

The Royal Navy made history again over the weekend as an F-35B Lightning II VSTOL fighter conducted the first ever Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landing (SRVL) aboard the supercarrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. Under the control of BAE test pilot Peter "Wizzer" Wilson, the aircraft executed the highly skilled maneuver designed to allow the F-35B to land on the deck of a carrier while carrying a heavy load of fuel and weapons, without the need for arrestor cables

newatlas.com...

a reply to: Fools

Say what you will about the United States, but we do things no one else can.

Pfffft, we 'got Joey, you 'got 'nuffin on us dawg!



😛

originally posted by: lakenheath24
a reply to: Zaphod58

Are those the same kc135s modded for the sr71??

It could be any 135 as the U-2s didnt need JP-7.

Its either a 135A or 135Q(Ones made to carry JP-7 and later upgraded to 135T) due to the J57s but cant read the tail number to know for sure, as you cant really tell the difference from the outside.

a reply to: EternalSolace

They had JATO at the time, but for the Forrestal landing it was all brakes and power.

a reply to: lakenheath24

Yeah, Q models. It was an all Beale mission.