The United States Navy operates some of the most capable planes ever to fly off the deck of a ship. But not every effort aimed at parking advanced aircraft on 4.5 acres of floating “Sovereign American territory” has resulted in success. In fact, Uncle Sam has tried to stick just about every fighter developed over the past 50 years on carrier duty… not to mention a spy plane or two.
Believe it or not, a number of planes you’d never have imagined have actually landed and taken off from the decks of American carriers, including the legendary U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane and even the absolutely massive C-130 Hercules!
The biggest planes ever to fly off of American carriers
1) James H. Flatley III flew a KC-130 off the deck of the USS Forestal?
While the modern Nimitz and Ford-class carriers don’t need to be fuelled for decades, they still require all sorts of supplies from land-based installations. These range from the usual stuff you need to support the more than 3,000 troops on board, to replacement parts for the aircraft that operate from the carriers’ flight deck.
