Fulton surface-to-air recovery system
The Fulton surface-to-air recovery system (STARS), also known as Skyhook, is a system used by the
This system was developed by inventor
Development of the recovery system
Experiments with the recovery system began in 1950 by the CIA and Air Force. Using a weather balloon, nylon line, and weights of 10 to 15 pounds (4.5 to 6.8 kg), Fulton made numerous pickup attempts as he sought to develop a reliable procedure. Successful at last, Fulton took photographs and sent them to Admiral Luis de Florez, who had become the director of technical research at the CIA. Believing that the program could best be handled by the military, de Florez put Fulton in touch with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), where he obtained a development contract from ONR's Air Programs Division.
Over the next few years, Fulton refined the air and ground equipment for the pickup system. Based at
Further tests were conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, from 1 August 1959, using RB-69A, 54-4307, a CIA P2V-7U, according to an agency document.[2]
After experiments with instrumented dummies, Fulton continued to experiment with live pigs, as pigs have a nervous system close to humans. Lifted off the ground, the pig began to spin as it flew through the air at 125 miles per hour (200 km/h). It arrived on board uninjured, but in a disoriented state. When it recovered, it attacked the crew.[3]
By 1958, the Fulton aerial retrieval system, or "Skyhook", was finished. The ground system could be dropped from an aircraft and contained the necessary equipment for a pickup, including a harness, for cargo or a person, attached to 500 feet (150 m) of high-strength, braided nylon line and a
The pickup aircraft was equipped with two tubular steel "horns", 30 feet (9 m) long and spread at a 70° angle from its nose. The aircraft flew into the line, aiming at a bright
Later the US Navy tested the Fulton system fitted to modified S-2 Tracker carrier-based antisubmarine patrol aircraft for use in rescuing downed pilots. It is unknown whether a Fulton equipped S-2 was ever used on a combat mission.
First human pickups
The CIA had secretly trained
The first human pickup using Fulton's STARS took place on 12 August 1958, when
In August 1960, Capt. Edward A. Rodgers, commander of the Naval Air Development Unit, flew a Skyhook-equipped P2V to
Project Coldfeet
The first operational use of Skyhook was
Later use
The Fulton system was used from 1965 to 1996 on several variants of the
Despite the apparent high-risk nature of the system, only one fatal accident occurred in 17 years of use. On 26 April 1982, SFC Clifford Wilson Strickland was picked up by a Lockheed MC-130 Combat Talon of the 7th Special Operations Squadron at CFB Lahr, Germany, during Flintlock 82 exercise, using the Fulton STARS recovery system, but fell to his death due to a failed bushing at the top of the left yoke pivot bolt.[7]
The increased availability of long-range
In popular culture
The Skyhook has been featured in a number of films and video games. It was seen in the 1965
The Skyhook system was also featured in the 2008 film The Dark Knight. First mentioned by Lucius Fox as a means of re-boarding an aircraft without its landing,[9] the system is attached to a Lockheed L-100 Hercules.[10][11][12]
In video games, a somewhat fictionalized interpretation of the Skyhook forms a core gameplay mechanic in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.[13] In the winning sequence for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Warzone, the winning team releases a tethered balloon with subsequent sky-hook pick up by a C-130 plane.
See also
- Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group
- Mid-air retrieval
- Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction
- United States Air Force § Personnel Recovery
- Glider snatch pick-up
References
- ^ Video: B-29s Rule Jap Skies,1944/12/18 (1944). Universal Newsreel. 1944. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "PHASE VI EMPLOYMENT AND SUITABILITY TESTS OF THE RB - 69A AIRCRAFT" (PDF). CIA Reading Room. Retrieved 17 February 2024. Approved for release 21 April 2010. Document number CIA-RDP61-00763A000100110122-7.
- ^ a b c "Robert Fulton's Skyhook and Operation Coldfeet". Center for the Study of Intelligence. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "500-Foot High Jump". Popular Mechanics, April 1960, p. 111.
- CIA. p. 4.
- ^ Friddell, Phillip (18 December 2010). "Replica in Scale: 'Tis the Season---It's Our Christmas Special Edition Which Contains Some Tasty Transports, Some Colorful Jet Fighters, Odd Neptunes, Jugs, A Bird That Barely Flew, and a Blast From the Past". Replica in Scale.
- ^ "» Friday FOIA Fun: The Fulton Skyhook - Entropic Memes".
- ^ a b "Fulton Recovery System". www.specialforceshistory.info.
- OCLC 259231584.
Bruce Wayne: "And what about getting back into the plane?" Lucius Fox: "I'd recommend a good travel agent." Bruce Wayne: "Without it landing." Lucius Fox: "Now that's more like it. The CIA had a program back in the '60s for getting their people out of hotspots called Skyhook. We could look into that."
- OCLC 259231584.
- ^ Pulver, Andrew. "Top 10 films set in Hong Kong". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ Hall, Peter. "Did You Know the Plane Extraction Scene from 'The Dark Knight' Used Real CIA Technology?". movies.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ "The True Story of 'Metal Gear Solid's' Fulton Recovery System". War Is Boring. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
External links
- Fact Sheet: Fulton Surface-to-Air Recovery System at the Wayback Machine (archived 1 February 2008)
- GlobalSecurity.org article
- High-resolution photo of HC-130 fitted for system, on www.airliners.net
- Two CIA Prisoners in China, 1952–73 — Central Intelligence Agency
- Fulton Skyhook System Live Recovery (1962), footage of live pick-ups conducted by the United States Army, Texas Archive of the Moving Image.
- Lockheed ER-4112 Fulton Skyhook Aerial Recovery System manual