Originally Posted by
joy ride
Wheel-less/Rubber Deck Landings were actually done successfully by Eric Winkle Brown on HMS Warrior; the idea was to use aircraft without undercarriage to save weight. The idea was reasonable (in theory) but more powerful jet engines made it unnecessary. My dad was part of the UK team which later sold Warrior to Argentina, re-named ARA Independencia.
The concrete base for the rubber landing deck still exists at Farnborough about 200yds in front of the present control tower. One of the old radio operators (working as an Experimental Flying Control Assistant after his job was allocated to air traffic controllers) told me Winkle made several approaches to it before eventually taking the plunge.
I was told the trials were a complete success until someone asked how they were going to get the aircraft off the rubber landing 'mat' so that the next aircraft could land. Someone else then suggested attaching a set of wheels to the aircraft!!!