There was a time when planes could only land on full length runways.

And with 71% of the world covered in water, that significantly restricted options.

To remove the restriction of full sized airports the tailhook was invented.

Tailhooks are hooks attached to the underside of the tail of airplanes that catch a cable on the runway resulting in rapid deceleration.

Now boats with a landing strip and other shorter runways become viable options for airplanes to land on.

All because someone saw a problem and grappled with a way to solve it.

Photo by Lisha Riabinina on Unsplash.