Tailhook

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This article is about the aircraft equipment; for the fraternal organization, see Tailhook Association.

A tailhook or arrestor hook is a device attached to the rear of an aircraft. It is used to achieve rapid deceleration after landing, usually on an aircraft carrier.

[edit] Description

The tailhook is a strong metal bar, with its free end flattened out, thickened somewhat, and fashioned into a claw-like hook. The pilot is capable of raising this bar to its inflight position or lowering it ("Hook Down") for landing. Helicopters and other aircraft that are able to land vertically are not equipped with tailhooks.

Aircraft land on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier on a short runway towards the rear of the ship. A number (usually four) of very greasy and very strong thick flexible cables called arrestor cables are stretched across this runway. When an aircraft lands properly, the tailhook will catch one of the cables and the cable will transfer the energy of the aircraft to the belowdecks arresting gear engines, stopping the aircraft. Both the hook and cables have to be very strong: aircraft land on carriers at full throttle, so as to have enough power to go around if the hook misses all the cables.

The term 'hooked' is sometimes used to describe aircraft fitted with a tailhook.