So I was recently looking over the wonderful Wikipedia article "List of Non-Carrier Aircraft Flown From Aircraft Carriers," which I absolutely recommend to you all, when one of the planes jumped out at me. I can't seem to insert a screenshot, so I'll paste the text.
Aircraft type Occasion Origin Year # used
Lockheed KC-130F Hercules USMC carrier trials from USS Forrestal US 1963 1
Yeah. A KC-130. So I looked it up, and I found this video, and a couple of others with the same footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM5AI3YSV3M
Unloaded, the KC-130 triples pretty much triples the weight of any other aircraft on that Wikipedia list, and it was landed with up to 50,000 lbs of cargo and fuel, without arresting gear. Total weight? About 125,000 lbs, a world record.
My challenge to you is to see if you can do better. At least 25,000 better. On the USS Beast. Take video. Post the plane. I'll upvote it, and download it if it's mobile-friendly. No vectored thrust, no power, lift or airbrake mods, no parachutes. Good luck.
Bonus: They did a carrier version of the U-2, too. Two, of them, in fact. If you can land and take off in the Hercules, give the Dragon Lady a try.
Edit: For clarity, the weight to beat is currently 150,000lbs. Also, feel free to use the "carrier landing" challenge instead of free roam, to save time.
Edit (2018.4.29): New record set by @Ziukaku with a weight at landing of 161,263 lbs, and, after coming to a complete stop, taking off from that point with 269,631.736 lbs of thrust. Mods used: enlarged landing gear.
New records! Upping himself twice in succession, Zuikaku has landed his plane at 160,088.75 lbs and fully loaded at 161, 263 lbs, and then taking off from there! Can anyone even touch that?
@Zuikaku you are a crazy dude, my dude. Well done.
@Qui11iamSurLaFeui11e
Absolutely it can take off from the carrier. Watch the video
And I also pushed the plane to its limits under current tuning. Video Here
(Please watch both videos till the end)
@Zuikaku not that I want to bother you, but would that plane take off from the carrier, too? Obviously not from where it stopped, but from the discovered location?
Our first record is set by @Zuikaku! Here's the stats.
Weight of the plane (unloaded): 73, 389 lbs.
Weight of fuel carried: 87 875 lbs. 98% (85, 817.5 lbs) remaining at landing.
Total weight at landing: 159, 206.5 lbs.
@Zuikaku Bro... Props to you, dude. That was fantastic. How many attempts did that take you?
@Qui11iamSurLaFeui11e
Yes. It was my mistake. So to make up for it, I did it properly this time.
Didn't put too much effort into description of the plane or the video (again), so both of them are unlisted (again).
Plane Here
@Zuikaku Not bad, but you haven't quite read the post, I think. The challenge isn't a 16,000 lb plane. It's not even a 25,000 lb plane. Your challenge is to beat the weight of a fully-loaded KC-130, at 150,000 lbs. Nice video, though. The plane even matches my color scheme.
@Qui11iamSurLaFeui11e
So I did it. Yeah.
Didn't put too much effort into description of the plane or the video, so both of them are unlisted. Download it if you will. If you really feel like upvoting, just pick on of the newer posts and upvote that one.
Plane Here
Okay @Qui11iamSurLaFeui11e
@Fluffysheep Upvote for being quick off the mark. Wow.
Okay