Diverting the thread a tad, but I remember seeing artist's impressions (in the days before computer graphics!) where a Harrier sans undercarriage was to be held on a gyro stabilized boom off the side of a ship. The pilot began the hover and the boom disengaged. Upon return, the pilot re-entered the hover and he was "cherry picked" back to safety. Extra payload in place of the gear and a small ship capability but it never went anywhere.
Back to thread...sorry!