The photographs shown here of Flycatchers landing on and moving through HMS Glorious illustrate interwar deck handling. Early aircraft carried spring-hinged briar hooks intended to engage longitudinal wires, but the Royal Navy abandoned that system in 1926 after it contributed to accidents. Until transverse arresting wires returned in improved form, pilots relied largely on wheel brakes for deceleration and directional control. Glorious and Courageous also used a lift intended to bring aircraft up ready to fly from a lower take-off position. The sequence shows that carrier aircraft and carrier machinery had to evolve together rather than as separate technologies.
Chapter · 1:32:37-1:35:21
Flycatcher operations expose an unsettled carrier-landing system
Photographs of Flycatchers aboard HMS Glorious lead into the Royal Navy's changing hooks, wires, brakes, lifts, and flying-off arrangements.