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Old 9th Dec 2013, 13:22
  #24 (permalink)  
Not_a_boffin
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Portsmouth
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Yes. US carriers up to Carl Vinson and in the RN, Ark Royal IV, were fitted with the "bridle catcher" invented by a bloke called Willem Van Zelm. The idea was to be able to re-use the bridles up to a certain number of launches, before they would be gashed as scrap.

Basically there is an extension to the flightdeck forward of the cat, where the flying strops (steel wire ropes doing over 100kts!) are "caught" and held below FD level until after the launch cycle is complete, when they are recovered. Extensive use of nose-tow launching in new aircraft designs meant that bridle launches eventually became rare events, but the SEM still uses that method.

CdG does not have them as she was originally planned to have a mostly Rafale complement and so bridle catchers never fitted (Foch & Clemenceau did have them). That means she will have to have a large supply of tested and in date bridles for her SEM as they will disappear into the 'oggin in short order.
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