Bonus

[browningautorifle]

Looks like an impurity in the camera.

[Bob Seijas]

I worked with a guy who shot down an ME109 with a P40 in North Africa... he said it just flew right in front of him out of nowhere, and he squeezed the trigger. It was the only one he ever got.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

I worked with a guy who shot down an ME109 with a P40 in North Africa... he said it just flew right in front of him out of nowhere, and he squeezed the trigger. It was the only one he ever got.

What is the saying? "somtimes better to be lucky than good"

[Cosine26]

That wire looks like a "bridle" used for launching off aircraft a WWII catapult. (Bridles were used to launch F4's off CV's during VietNam operations.)The white long object on the deck behind the P40 looks like an alignment fixture used to position the aircraft for a "cat" shot as done during WWII. Thoughts? I do not think that the P40 had bridle hooks as built. Maybe they were fabricated for the operation.
FWIW

[Bob Womack]

That wire looks like a "bridle" used for launching off aircraft a WWII catapult. (Bridles were used to launch F4's off CV's during VietNam operations.)The white long object on the deck behind the P40 looks like an alignment fixture used to position the aircraft for a "cat" shot as done during WWII. Thoughts? I do not think that the P40 had bridle hooks as built. Maybe they were fabricated for the operation.
FWIW

That was my thought as well but I don't have any particular data on this. WWII was the mother of strange bedfellows. Pragmatism reigned.

Bob

[browningautorifle]

So you guys think they just left a piece of cable lying around when aircraft were taking off then?

[Paul S.]

So instead of guessing, I thought why not look up the ship to see if she had a catapult and she did. One steam catapult. The track is visible in the picture and confirmed by the link: Escort Carrier Photo Index: USS CHENANGO (ACV-28)

[Cosine26]

Early on they used a hook to catch the bridle, though I believe that this was discontinued. Deck launch was faster than catapult launch during WWII. On the first Korean War cruise of the USS Essex, deck launch was generally used for the prop planes (F4U's and AD's) while the jets (F9F's and the F2H's) were always catapult launched.FWIW

[RT Ellis]

The object in the image does appear to be a catapult cable. I'm not that knowledgeable about WWII era carrier catapults but I thought they were steam driven, and I see no sign of escaping steam that was usually visible. On the other hand I recall reading that on the early carrier catapults the cable was usually lost because after launch it was free to fall into the ocean which the object in the image, if a cable looks like it's loose.

But I have to question whether it was necessary to use the catapult. As was mentioned the B25s launched from the Hornet were not assisted, and we have information that a P40 could launch properly set up, with carrier at flank speed, heading into the wind, to include flaps which the pilot of that aircraft obviously has deployed. I am troubled by the idea that P40s were not designed or built for the stresses of catapult launch, but maybe I'm demonstrating my ignorance of the aircraft. The scenario could be that at least a few of the first launched aircraft may have been catapult assisted because of insufficient deck space. The carrier in this case being an escort carrier with minimal flight deck.

[Cosine26]

Early catapults were hydraulic not steam. As I remember it steam cats were post a WWII development, ergo-no steam showing in the picture.