Good afternoon, everyone. I would like to discuss the topic of German fighter jets, particularly the F104G. My main question is why these and other similar aircraft cannot take off from an aircraft carrier during a mission, given that they have a hook?
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Simply put, it’s not a naval aircraft I think you should just ask an AI
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Okay, what about the F-4F that comes next?
Although the F-4 was originally a Navy aircraft, the F-4F is based on the Air Force variant, the F-4E, and is not capable of operating from aircraft carriers.
But it still has a hook and can land on an aircraft carrier deck like the F104G.
The F-104G does not have a catapult launch bar for takeoff from an aircraft carrier
Okay, let’s forget about the F104G and focus on the German F-4F. In any case, the launch catapult is either attached to the front landing gear or to the skin fasteners.
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The hook isnt for carrier landing. The gear would collapse,its hook to catch wires on ground runway during emergency landing. F-16/15 have the same hook for this cause.
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The top is a U.S. Navy F-4J, and the bottom is a German Air Force F-4F. The F-4F does not have mounting brackets for the bridle wires.
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Thank you very much, it makes more sense now
To give more context:
Hooks on air force aircraft are a tool for iced runways in upper northern locations, emergency short landings on shorter runways, etc.
The hooks are not rated for carrier landing distance in most cases IRL, and in all cases many lack the thrust and/or equipment to takeoff from carriers.
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This is an F-15J; this is how the hook on an Air Force aircraft is used. The wire for the ground runway is shown in the image below.
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