Don’t-cha love the exaggerated hype these shows give such things?

That glider-towed “testing” was just the first phase of flight testing… and they likely would have lost a few aircraft early on to one of the problem that caused the cancellation of the YB-49.

Basically, the overall length was too short, and pitch changes could get out of control fairly easily. Towing it would have camouflaged that aspect.

Additionally, it tended to “hunt” back and forth in yaw for extended periods after turns and in disturbed air… and the YB-49 had small vertical fins that provided some yaw control… the Horten had none. Towing would also hide this issue.

Wiki has a nice photo of a F9F-8T (redesignated TF-9J 1962) on USS Saratoga CV-60 sometime between 1957 & 1959.

larger version:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/F9F-8T_on_USS_Saratoga_CVA-60.jpg

Are they trying to get more?

HUP, 2, 3, 4…

I’ll get me coat

Modifications to the US Essex class carriers (17 completed before V-J Day, and 7 after) for an angled deck were simple and easily done.

Also note the Essex class had 2 x H-4 or H-6 hydraulic catapults. These were replaced in the post-war upgrades by either H-8 or C-11-1 (steam) catapults.

Look at this drawing of CV-36 USS Antietam, the US prototype angled-deck carrier, and compare it to an un-modified Essex (CV-36 was a “second group” ship, with 2 quad 40mm mounts on the bow, therefore the bow was longer than the “first group” with the single bow quad 40mm mount in the second illustration).

The CV-36 drawing keeps a line showing the old flight deck outline.

In for a penny, in for a pound…

Ling-Temco-Vought A-7E Corsair II:

“WW2 aircraft”….

Role: Trainer/Light attack
Manufacturer: China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
First flight: August 27, 1958
Introduced: 1960
Status: Operational
Primary user: Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force
Number built: 2,000+

A common, but erroneous, belief is that the CJ-6 is a Chinese version of the Yakovlev Yak-18A. Its predecessor, the Nanchang CJ-5, was a licence-built version of the Yak-18. However, advancements in pilot training brought a need for a new aircraft with improved performance and a tricycle landing gear. When the Soviet Union developed the Yak-18A, PLAAF engineers decided that its performance and design would not suit China’s needs.

During late 1957 Aeronautical Engineers Bushi Cheng and Lin Jiahua began work in Shenyang on a trainer design that addressed the shortcomings of the Yak-18A. The design they delivered featured an aluminum semi-monocoque fuselage, flush-riveted throughout, and introduced a modified Clark airfoil wing design with pronounced dihedral in the outer sections. Wind tunnel testing validated the design, and in May 1958 the program was transferred to the Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing factory where Chief Engineer Goa Zhenning initiated production of the CJ-6. The first flight of the CJ-6 was completed on August 27, 1958 by Lu Maofan and He Yinxi.

Or a 20-year-old spotty memory mixed with UFO “wanna-be-itis”.

Ah thanks Peter,i need a decent book on aircraft! (I have the Observer’s Book of aircraft coming soon which will help!)

Far more info can be found here (detailed model-by-model descriptions & specifications, along with type service history and airframe number lists)… but no photos or drawings:

http://home.att.net/~jbaugher4/newa1.html