PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - The Wright brothers just glided in 1903. They flew in 1908.
Old 8th Jun 2014, 11:03
  #278 (permalink)  
Haraka
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
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Didn't it require a rocket-propelled trolley?....
Indeed the rocket trolley was used in practice, although the Baroudeur could actually get off without it.
Take-off options examined by Héreil and his staff included catapults, railroad sleds and launch ramps.
It was the lack of a conventional undercarriage that killed the project , as it was argued that taking off from and landing on unprepared fields did not actually turn the aircraft in to an effective weapons system and that the logistics of providing fuel, weapons,oxygen, spares etc to dispersed sites would be a nightmare.
(extracted from Air International June 1995)
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