Shore based catapult launches?
Pictures at Leuchars circa 1920s show the catapult training rig to teach RNAS pilots the drills; swing it into wind and give it a go - I shall try and dig up a copy of the photo to post.
Regular cable engagements were the norm on Stanleys metal matting runway and we had 3 wires one at each end and another in the middle. Runway was long enough to stop without the wires so long as you had about 20 knots of wind down the strip but we couldn't aford to let the any of our precious assets slide off the end. Because of the metal surface we fitted special brass shoes to the arrestor hooks and the metal on metal contact gave a very pleasing shower of sparks as the hook scraped along pre-engagement.
WWII story from my uncle who disembarked 60 Sqn's Hurricanes into the Burma campaign. They'd never done it before, had no intention of doing it again and reckon they would have lost more men and machines in training for it than giving it a shot cold. As with so many things - they got away with it: fortune favours the brave!
