The B-36 photo was, I think, an RB-36 used to test in-flight deployment and retrieval of smaller aircraft, e.g. the F-84 model in this pic, or the XF-85 Goblin, whose pic appeared a few weeks ago on this blog. The former was a high-speed recce a/c, to be deployed for darting into areas somewhat risky for the RB-36, the latter would be a parasite fighter for self defense. IIRC, this was the FICON project, and the girder you see was the trapeze and hook used to "catch" the smaller aircraft.
The B-29 was the mother ship for the "Tom Tom" or "tip-tow" project. This was another project to take your escort with you (escort figheres were SAC assets), and *may* have had a refueling capability through the joint.
3 comments:
Nice old pics, the left must be a very early air-air refuelling - B35gallimaufry? Think the other's a B29?
The B-36 photo was, I think, an RB-36 used to test in-flight deployment and retrieval of smaller aircraft, e.g. the F-84 model in this pic, or the XF-85 Goblin, whose pic appeared a few weeks ago on this blog. The former was a high-speed recce a/c, to be deployed for darting into areas somewhat risky for the RB-36, the latter would be a parasite fighter for self defense. IIRC, this was the FICON project, and the girder you see was the trapeze and hook used to "catch" the smaller aircraft.
The B-29 was the mother ship for the "Tom Tom" or "tip-tow" project. This was another project to take your escort with you (escort figheres were SAC assets), and *may* have had a refueling capability through the joint.
The trapeze was first used on two US airships in the 1930s - Akron and Macon I believe. The crew could disembark inside the airship.
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