METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE RECOVERY OF BODIES TOWED FROM MOVING VEHICLES

摘要

Recovery of a towed body, in one embodiment in the form of a decoy which isinitially stowed in a receptacle or canister and which is allowed to pay outbehind an aircraft on a towing cable wrapped around a spindle, is accomplishedby snaring or lassoing a portion of the towing cable and by dragging it to afurther spindle which is driven so as to cause the lasso and a portion of thetowing cable to wind up around the driven spindle. When a sufficient amount ofthe cable is wound around the driven spindle, the cable end secured to thecanister is severed to allow all of the rest of the towing cable to be woundup. In one embodiment, a telescoping saddle or docking cradle is providedwhich extends from the canister to receive the retracted towed body so that itmay be secured to the moving vehicle from whence it can be recovered,refurbished, and redeployed.