The perfection of a startling, kangaroolike technique has given the Air Force the world's first useful aerial aircraft carrier. The technique enables a B-26 to carry an F-84 Thunderstreak fighter in a huge , bomb-bay pouch, launch the jet in mid air, retrieve it still in mid-air. These pictures from 1953 show as much as security allows of this miracle of coordination.
As the F-84 approaches, the bomber's "Trapeze Operator" lowers an aluminum trapeze (1). Talking to the pilot over radio, the T.O. brings the fighter in under the B-36 (2) in a hair-raising operation - the pilot being now only 50 feet from the flailing blades of the six ^-36 propellers. The T.O. then lowers the trapeze which makes a double contact (3) with the F-84: a catch (forward) engages a hook in the fighter's nose, then a U-frame grasps it (aft). The F-84 shuts off its engine and is hoisted into the B-36s bomb bay, where the pilot can step out.
Launching, the pilot enters his plane from the bomber, trapeze is lowered, the jet started. The plane drops free, the pilot speeds ahead. This technique qould permit the B-36 to fly up to 5.000 miles, release the sonic-spedd F-84 500 miles from target and start back while the Thunderstreak drops its A-bomb, rejoins the B-36 and is recovered in mid-air.
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images and info provided by the LIFE Magazine / LIFE Magazine International / LIFE Magazine Atlantic ARCHIVE from the Zetu Harrys Collection
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