Actually, it was not unheard of to crane aboard aircraft. For example, planes would fly into NAS Alameda (for you youngin's that's where Myth Busters does there tests) and tow it pierside to the carrier.
Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the "crane aboard". (I was sleeping-in
that morning). But from my personal history:
[...] Then late that night I flew the last VF-151 F-4 from its hangar at NAS Miramar, to NAS Alameda. Maintenance personnel from another squadron had been working feverishly all day to repair it, but it still had some problems. Nevertheless, we desperately needed it for deployment."
"After a tentative (and very rare, night) test flight, we had to fly it to Alameda with its landing gear locked down (there was some serious concern this "hangar queen" aircraft could not lower its landing gear again, if they were raised - so we just left them down). The navigational instruments didn't work too well either, so we just visually followed the car lights on the Grapevine, and the I-5 freeway north beyond Los Angeles to the Bay area."
"We thankfully made it OK. In the morning, this last squadron aircraft was craned aboard the Midway."
