Aircraft carriers are typically meant to operate specialized planes specifically designed to take off and land at sea. Within the last eighty years, only a handful of conventional aircraft have flown from carriers—in some cases under wartime conditions. These planes include bombers, transports, light commentary aircraft, and even spy planes.
In 1918, the world’s first aircraft carrier, HMS Argus, entered service. Since then, as airplanes have grown faster, more capable, and heavier, naval aviation has turn into more specialized. Carrier-based aircraft typically feature heavier, strengthened landing gear to survive a lifetime of punishing carrier landings, a tailhook to catch arresting gear upon landing, and a big wing to create more lift, aiding takeoffs.
Aircraft carriers have many benefits over static airfields on land, particularly their ability to travel lots of of miles in a single day and the dearth of rules and regulations imposed on overseas air bases. This has on several occasions prompted the armed services to experiment with planes never even considered for carrier-based flight. A few of these flights were successful but ultimately impractical, some were merely a short lived solution, and a few were born from sheer wartime desperation.
B-25 Mitchell Bomber
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, america needed a method to strike back in whatever way possible, to each publicly avenge the attack and take the initiative. The lack of Clark Field within the Philippines and other U.S. bases to the Japanese advance made existing attack plans not possible and compelled the Army and Navy right into a daring plan.
On April 18th, 1942, just five months after Pearl Harbor, 18 U.S. Army Air Force B-25 Mitchell bombers took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to bomb targets in mainland Japan. The B-25s needed to receive extensive modifications to take off from a brief flight deck, including the removal of many of the planes’ machine guns, the addition of more fuel, and a smaller bomb load. Although the raid caused little damage, it caught Japan completely off guard and gave the American people a victory to rally around.
U-2 “Dragon Lady” Spy Plane
Within the early Nineteen Sixties, the U-2 spy plane was the one strategic reconnaissance platform able to overflying the Soviet Union. U-2s would typically take off from a rustic neighboring the us, resembling Norway, Pakistan, or Turkey, dip into Soviet airspace, after which exit into international or friendly territory. While this arrangement was in a position to cover much of the us, there have been some parts of the country, especially parts stretching far out to sea, where this was impractical.
Consequently, the U.S. Navy and the CIA launched Operation Whale Tail. A handful of U-2s were fitted with strengthened landing gear, wing spoilers, and even folding wings to avoid hogging precious space on the carrier flight deck. Although flight tests were successful, just one operational mission, to watch French nuclear testing in Polynesia, was ever undertaken.
C-130 Hercules Transport
The U.S. Navy isn’t really within the air cargo business. Although the service maintains a worldwide logistics network to support its many fleets, particularly the fifth Fleet in Bahrain and the seventh Fleet in Japan, it doesn’t have large cargo planes to haul heavy goods around. Cargoes flown to aircraft carriers are transported by carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft, smaller transport planes that may easily land on a flattop’s flight deck.
Within the early Nineteen Sixties, the Navy experimented with using a modified Marine Corps C-130 Hercules transport as a “Super COD.” The Hercules conducted “29 touch-and-go landings, 21 unarrested full-stop landings, and 21 unassisted takeoffs” from a carrier flight deck, in accordance with Easy Flying, proving it was indeed possible. Although the C-130 as a carrier cargo transport never got here to pass, it still holds the record to this present day for the biggest aircraft ever to perform flight operations from a carrier.
C-47 Transport (R-4D)
In 1946, the U.S. Navy commenced Operation High Jump, a naval expedition to the frozen continent of Antarctica. The aim of the expedition, led by task force flagship USS Philippine Sea, was to realize vital experience operating in polar regions, a specific concern for the reason that United States and Soviet Union shared an arctic border within the Aleutians. The expedition would also establish a brand new scientific research station, Little America IV.
As a part of High Jump, the U.S. Navy embarked six R-4Ds, the Navy version of the C-47 Skytrain of World War II fame, on the aircraft carrier Philippine Sea. The planes were modified with ski/wheel landing gear for operating from snowdrifts and jet assisted takeoff (JATO) rocket motors to permit them to quickly launch from the carrier flight deck.
The R-4Ds were invaluable for hauling cargo to the brand new base and photographic surveys but couldn’t go home: the planes were just too big to land back on the carrier. The six planes were disposed of at sea once High Jump was over.
O-1 Bird Dog
In 1975, South Vietnam, lacking American support, was successfully invaded by North Vietnamese army troops. Because the North Vietnamese Army fanned out across the countryside, those loyal to the regime in Saigon tried desperately to flee the country. Although U.S. forces evacuated many to ships anchored within the South China Sea, the following chaos meant that not everyone made it to safety in time.
On April twenty ninth, 1975, an O-1E Bird Dog commentary aircraft flown by Major Ly Bung, of the 114th Commentary Squadron of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force, overflew the aircraft carrier USS Midway. Despite being built to accommodate a crew of just one or two, aboard the tiny Bird Dog was Major Bung, his wife, and their five children. After dropping a desperate plea to the carrier for the crew to clear the flight deck, Midway’s deck crews pushed $10 million in American and Vietnamese helicopters overboard to make room for a set wing landing. Bung nailed the landing, bringing his tiny aircraft to a halt on the flight deck.