How the Navy built a better jet

[rangerrebew]

How the Navy built a better jet
By: E.R. Johnson, Aviation History Magazine  

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, especially in aviation history.

An extraordinary example occurred near Naval Air Station North Island near San Diego during the early 1950s: While performing flight testing from an aircraft carrier, the catapult bridle — a device that connected the airplane to the catapult shuttle — had jammed the nose gear strut of a Chance Vought F7U-3 Cutlass, so that the gear would neither fully retract nor extend.

Repeated efforts by the pilot to shake the bridle loose proved futile. Because attempting to land on the jammed nose strut was deemed unsafe, the pilot of the Cutlass was directed to fly over the base, point the aircraft out to sea and eject.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/07/05/how-the-navy-built-a-better-jet/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NT%207-5-19&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Navy%20-%20Daily%20News%20Roundup