Is it possible to create a suspended runway using a zipwire?

FlyBoyDannyy

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FlyBoyDannyy<3
So I recently watched a video recently on how the US navy used a suspended runway for one of it's
WWII vessels.

Given the expense of constructing and maintaining a runway in remote areas for small light aircraft would this be at all feasible?
 
Having spent my Naval service on an AK Victory Ship (500 +/- feet, 12,000 tons gross weight fully loaded), I can't imagine the Brodie System being used safely in anything worse than a calm sea and with light planes.

-Skip
 
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Fascinating--I never new such a thing existed.

Having watched the videos, I think I understand why the idea never gained traction.
 
One version of the Brodie was designed for land use. Four large poles were erected and guyed, with a bridle between the two at each end and a main cable suspended between the bridles. It was for places where getting an L-bird in and out was needed, but terrain prevented a strip being put in. Helo's pretty much negated the land based version when the 1st Air Commando's proved the worth of them in WW2.
 
Of course, it’s technically only a further development of the idea…
upload_2023-1-13_21-1-4.jpeg

which then continued past the L-birds into the jet age…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_XF-85_Goblin
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Having watched the videos, I think I understand why the idea never gained traction.

it never gained traction because the war ended. But it was a legitimate way to deploy and recover scout aircraft. When you consider wind and speed of the ship, the closure rate to catch the wire can be very low.

Last several years I’ve seen a warbird at Oshkosh with a Brodie arm on it. There’s also one at Udvar Hazy at Dulles.
 
I think a guy I know in DFW has some parts for Brodies for an L-5.

I think TS's intent is build up his next L-5 with the system on it for display purposes. I don't know if the plan is for it to be a flyer or a static display.
 
Some more information - I did an aerospace education presentation for CAP a few years ago. The Brodie system was a response to a problem, but you need the history to understand why

Remember the tech at the time - there were no satellites, no GPS, and very little in the way of intel on enemy troop deployments. The response to this was to employ small scout aircraft, called L-Birds (liaison) or Grasshoppers to fly out over the battlefield and collect intel. Despite how crazy this sounds, it was not that dangerous because shooting at a scout was likely to miss, but would reveal your location and result in an artillery response. The grasshoppers were the little taildraggers that many people still love today.
L-1 Stinson Vigilant
L-2 Taylorcraft
L-3 Aeronca
L-4 Piper Cub
L-5 Stinson Sentinel
L-6 Interstate (small production run due to overheating problems)

The problem - when you're considering a land war, it's easy. You build a base with a short field and fly them out. But what about an invasion such as Italy or Pacific islands where you have no land for a base? The first response to this was to convert Navy LSTs to mini carriers

1016001601.jpg


HAF1MA14.jpg



A solution, but with more problems - a) these are take off only, b) they can only carry like 12 airplanes, and c) you lose the LST as a cargo ship because you lose the cranes. Enter the Brodie system. By putting the trapeze wire along the side of the ship, you can still use it as a cargo ship and you can launch and recover airplane. The number of aircraft was still limited, but theoretically, you could have dozens of these available.

That's the backstory to the WHY of the Brodie system.

The Brodie system was used in WWII, it's not hypothetical. At Iwo Jima, scouts launched from a Brodie system identified a sea cave with a lot of activity. The Navy bombarded the cave and destroyed the sea entrance. It was later discovered to hold about 300 kamikaze speedboats, which were intended to ram into the stern of US ships and disable the rudders, leaving them easy targets for bombers.

brodie-system.jpg


br5-jpg.40983


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Last information dump - I got to know about the Brodie system a decade or so ago during a business trip to Peoria. There's a small town just south of Perioa, Pekin, IL, which has an airport (C15) named "John Kriegsman Field". I got interested to find out who he was, which led me down this road.

The short answer is that John Kriegsman was a WWII vet who flew a Piper and is one of the few pilots to have used the Brodie system. He wrote a chapter in the book "L-Birds and the Brodie Device" https://www.pipercubforum.com/lbird.htm if you'd like to dig into this much more.

He was later honored by the IL state legislature and the citation is worth reading. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fu...Num=947&GAID=8&LegID=25284&SpecSess=&Session=

I've lost the other link now, but there is/was something out there from his journal where he talked about having to match the sway of the ship in rougher seas, pitching up and down to catch the trapeze. Wish I could find that again, but my google foo is running low on me right now.
 
Last information dump - I got to know about the Brodie system a decade or so ago during a business trip to Peoria. There's a small town just south of Perioa, Pekin, IL, which has an airport (C15) named "John Kriegsman Field". I got interested to find out who he was, which led me down this road.

The short answer is that John Kriegsman was a WWII vet who flew a Piper and is one of the few pilots to have used the Brodie system. He wrote a chapter in the book "L-Birds and the Brodie Device" https://www.pipercubforum.com/lbird.htm if you'd like to dig into this much more.

He was later honored by the IL state legislature and the citation is worth reading. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fu...Num=947&GAID=8&LegID=25284&SpecSess=&Session=

I've lost the other link now, but there is/was something out there from his journal where he talked about having to match the sway of the ship in rougher seas, pitching up and down to catch the trapeze. Wish I could find that again, but my google foo is running low on me right now.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.co...ture-ww2-plane-holds-deep-meaning-for-family/
 
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