Quote:
Originally Posted by GAU-8
Yes. Well before:
Cutiss biplane--Cut and paste from below web site: On January 18, 1911, in San Francisco bay, Eugene Ely landed on a wooden deck built over the stern of the USS Pennsylvania,. His arresting gear, to shorten the landing, consisted of sand filled sea bags attached to ropes stretched across this deck with the ropes raised from the deck by longitudinal timbers. Hooks to catch the ropes were attached to the plane. This arrangement is surprisingly close to later aircraft carrier arresting gear.
Picture and related story:
First landing on a ship -- Glenn Curtiss Historical Society
Good one Glyn |
Looking at the picture, I thought to myself "I hope he was smart enough to wear a life jacket as well. Then I read the rest of the caption:
During a brief lunch with the ships officers, the arresting ropes and sand bags were removed and his plane was turned around. The pictures show that Ely was wearing motorcycle inner tubes around his waist and across his chest as a makeshift life preserver. His successfully took off and returned to land in the Presidio area of San Francisco