XF-85 Goblin: You Can't Make This Stuff Up

[Landlubber]

This is not a naval-themed post, but this really reminds me of something you'd see in Dystopian Wars or some other tabletop wargame.

So this weekend, my better half and I took a road trip through Nebraska and a bit of Iowa.  I managed to convince her to stop for an hour at the Strategic Air and Space Museum, an aviation museum outside Omaha dedicated to the Strategic Air Command.  Being a big fan of Cold War history, this museum was right up my alley.

One of the aircraft present in the museum was the XF-85 Goblin, a so-called "parasite fighter". 



The idea behind the XF-85 was to load it into the bomb bay of a strategic bomber, and deploy it if a fighter escort was needed during a bombing mission--as some missions would take place far from the friendly fighter umbrella.



No...I'm not making this up.

Apparently, the idea was scrapped during the experimental phase.  A few of the aircraft were built, and the deployment and recovery system was tested (almost identical to the "trapeze" equipment used to launch and deploy P-36 fighters from U.S. Navy zeppelins before WW2), but it was determined to be far too difficult to launch and recover the aircraft, so the idea was scrapped.

Here are a couple videos showing the process:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TvmwfoyIZLQ

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g46q-RUkAmc

You really can't make this stuff up!

[Ruckdog]

Ah, the goblin. I've pointed and snickered at the example on display at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio a number of times. Looking back though, you have to give SAC credit; this was a very....creative solution to the fact that the bombers they had at the time were too slow and vulnerable to be guaranteed survival against Soviet air defenses of the time.

Speaking of the B-36, there is one of those in the AF museum as well; that plan is HUGE! A very impressive beast. Of course, it had to be, when you consider the thermonuclear weapons of the time were the size of tanker trucks  .

[Landlubber]

Yeah, there was a B-36 at this museum also.  It was next to and slightly behind a B-52A, and I swear it was bigger.

Agreed, this was a creative attempt to solve the problem, although it sounds like something out of Hollywood!  Could you imagine being the test pilot who had to fly that thing?

"Ok, let me get this straight.  You want me to fly a fighter that's the size of the sedan in my garage out of the belly of a bomber, which is already in the air, shoot down MiGs, and then fly back into the bomber??  ARE YOU PEOPLE ON DRUGS??"