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CIA: Flying Skyhook Wasn't Just For James Bond, It Actually Rescued Agents

Posted by samzenpus on from the you're-outta-here dept.

coondoggie writes "This had to be one hell of a ride. The CIA today said it added a pretty cool item to its museum archives — the instruction card for officers being plucked off the ground by a contraption that would allow a person to be snatched off the ground by a flying aircraft without the plane actually landing."

4 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The Unit... by j-pimp · · Score: 5, Informative

    They showed this extraction method on The Unit. Season 2, episode 1 "Change of Station".

    Also, Morgan Freeman used it to get Batman out of China without taking the bat boots off for the TSA.

    --
    --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
  2. simpler system used 50+ years ago by rubycodez · · Score: 5, Interesting

    prop plane flying in special circles could keep a weight at end of winchable cable relatively stationary to ground. this method was used to take and deliver mail at remote locations, and at stunt shows to pick up and leave a stuntman.

  3. aka Fulton Recovery System by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Many more details here:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery_system

  4. Re:It's in the Archive so now they use... by KrackerJax · · Score: 5, Funny

    Also from the CIA article:

    "Fulton first used instrumented dummies as he prepared for a live pickup. He next used a pig, as pigs have nervous systems close to humans. Lifted off the ground, the pig began to spin as it flew through the air at 125 mph. It arrived on board undamaged but in a disoriented state. Once it recovered, it attacked the crew."

    Too funny, I can only imagine what a berserker pig in an aircraft is like.

    --
    Sauer