Portable Airport

An airplane still cannot perch on a wire like a bird, but it can hang beneath a wire like a right-side-up bat. The Army now has a "portable airport" which enables a light observation plane to land and take off from a cable.

Invented by Captain James H. Brodie, the simple rig has four masts which support a long cable stretched between them. To land, the plane flies between the masts and snags a nylon loop with a hook above its wing. A friction brake brings it to a stop. To take off, the plane runs beneath the cable until it reaches flying speed--then disengages itself. The Army says that any competent pilot can do the trick. Some prefer the cable to a conventional landing strip.

The "Brodie system" was designed for light liaison planes. The masts and cables would be hard for an enemy to spot from the air and could be set up quickly in tough terrain. In peacetime, the gadget may well prove useful in mountainous jungles or swampy country where clearing a landing strip is too difficult or too expensive.

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