On a calm morning off the coast of New Jersey in May 1932, Navy Lieutenant Daniel W. Harrigan throttled back the 428-hp radial engine powering his small Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk biplane. As he looked up from the cockpit, the centerline of the massive USS Akron airship dominated his view.
He approached a steel arm extending from the airship with a hook on the end. Flying just above the Sparrowhawk's 60 mph stall speed, Harrigan gingerly guided the hook mounted above the his top wing into the hook on the airship arm, successfully mating with the massive Akron in flight.
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