Fulton skyhook for the transports

[ember sandal]

Since slingloading recovery is a thing now, why not get a Fulton-esque system for the Ibis and/or Tarantula? So I think a good way to balance this is you have to empty your cargo bay/release everything beforehand, and you have to wait until the person you are rescuing inflates the balloon. You will also need to stay in a certain speed limit, or risk snapping the cable. I know this'll be a really risky job, but after you've expended your ammo, or released your cargo, you can switch to SAR mode.

We can also add guidelights for the helium balloon during night operations

[lucid musk]

You need wires on the aicraft to guide the ballon line and so it doesn’t get into the props or rotors. I don’t think that can be sone on the Ibis or the Tara.

If a conventional cargo plane is ever added however, skyhook would be a fantastic way to allow it to do CSAR.

[loud dove]

Im not sure where or when it could be useful but this reminded me of the spy sat recovery system:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Sdsn4snbzjo/sddefault.jpg

[haughty jewel]

Soo, what will be the ups of using it instead of regular hook pickup or landing nearby ?
For me it looks like more complex and time consuming "stylish" way of rescuing one or few pilots

[orchid flint]

https://tenor.com/view/skyhook-batman-gif-9223961661475111652

[lucid musk]

it's way faster and safer, you don't need to come to a hover or land

[ember sandal]

good point, we ARE getting a cargo plane in the future, but, perhaps only for the Tara, I forgot the system needed deflector cables

[haughty jewel]

well idk what is exact time for pilot to inflate a balloon
but I still in doubt that it will be faster than just land or hove at least significantly

[ember sandal]

well... I didn't think this idea through

[lucid musk]

a pilot having a baloon up for a couple minutes is fine. But coming to a hover or landing puts the aircraft in a dangerous position, wheras with skyhook you just fly over.

Fun fact the left navigator on MC-130E would pop is torso out of a roof hatch in the cockpit and use a poll to direct the cable properly, they did sometimes get electrical shocks from the static electricity.

https://youtu.be/t5GJ4cu311o?si=8TSNsGbgSR_Fc_T5

[ember sandal]

i'm starting to have second thoughts on this idea
It's kinda stupid to add more recovery methods when the game is about dropping WMDs on each other

Spartan type cargo plane?
We'll see

[haughty jewel]

if pilot himself in dangerous zone then it really doenst matter, because either way you risk it
and for example on ibis skyhook would be for most of the time useless, while for tarantula it maybe will have some use
this thing will be useful for fixed wing cargo planes and not regular helis

[mortal raft]

That's just an option.

If anything, with WMDs it makes even more sense to rescue pilots faster.

[lucid musk]

yeah, the big question is wether or not it’s carrier capable.
From runways you could go with a C-17 and enable carriage of MBTs or multiple IFVs

[ember sandal]

C-2 Greyhound kinda thing?

[lucid musk]

yeah for a carrier capable cargo plane. probaby bumped up to the size of a C-27J, so it can carry larger stuff.
But that would still be less capable than a Tara in payload.
I think a Jet C-2 greyhound could work well for a carrier based airlifter.

yeah land on it, but doesn’t go on the elevator or fit in the hangar. So it cannot operate from the carrier

[ember sandal]

All in favor of adding a C-2 greyhound/C1 Trader type of aircraft?

[ember sandal]

Ah yeah I forgot about the G21!

[lucid musk]

note the 10000 lbs payload tho, pretty sure that’s less than Ibis. Tara is 40000 iirc.

it doesn’t make much sense for PALA to have a carrier airlifter if their Ibis does the same thing already but is more versatile

[ember sandal]

I think a land based cargo plane would be better. Plus, RAPID DRAGON

[lucid musk]

yeah i think so too
But PALA would still want carrier based EW, AEW and laser defense (missions filled by the medusa for BDF)

[ember sandal]

I think we need something like an EA-6B Prowler/EF-18G Growler

[ember sandal]

EF-18G growler it is for the PALA equivalent
We could just have an EKR-67 Ifrit-

[ember sandal]

Ah yes, the Raveowler