I've seen films. Holy shit I wouldn't want to be the pilot on the receiving end of that. Launching is precarious and clumsy; recovery looks like pure nightmare fuel. Remember, zeppelins aren't fast, so those planes are dangerously close to stall speed even without dealing with things like turbulence and crosswind. NopeNopeNope.
I'm not so sure they were 'dangerously close' to stall speed.
While I can't find specifications for the N2Y biplanes hosted by the Macon, keep in mind that the N2Y is a two-seat inter-war biplane trainer with a 115 hp engine--it was not a fighter or pursuit plane. Additionally, it would have been designed to use the short, unpaved runways characteristic of pre-WWII airfields. All these factors point to low stall speeds.
So if we wanted to estimate the stall speed based on comparable aircraft, we'd be looking for a 100-ish hp, two-seat trainer. Aircraft of that description typically have a stall speed in the 35 to 45 knot range.
The source of all truth (Wikipedia) lists the cruising speed of the Macon as 55 knots / 63 mph with a max speed of 75 knots / 86 mph (altitudes not given). The Macon's cruising speed would be right around the recommended approach speed for aircraft like these, and it could have certainly accelerated to higher speeds to perform heavier-than-air aircraft operations.
Launching doesn't seem like a big deal, as long as you have a decent amount of altitude. If you launch slow, you'll just drop and pick up speed. Should be much like recovery from an aggressive stall.
Recovery, on the other hand, no way. Not too bad in smooth air, I think. You'll be flying really slow, but if you accidentally stall then you'll drop away from the airship to safety and can try again. But turbulence is going to affect the two aircraft so very differently that it seems like there would be a huge risk of collision. Note that there won't be any (consistent) crosswinds, since they're both flying through the same air.
In the film, there's obviously a lot of turbulence. Bouncing up into either the trapeze or the zeppelin is clearly a real danger. Or getting ripped off the trapeze prematurely. Further, those biplanes generate a lot of lift, even at low speed, and tend to rise on release, so the pilot has to be in control (stick forward) at all times and can't simply drop away.
