An airborne aircraft carrier is a type of
mother ship
A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft.
Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental airc ...
aircraft which can carry, launch, retrieve and support other smaller
parasite aircraft
A parasite aircraft is a component of a composite aircraft which is carried aloft and air launched by a larger carrier aircraft or mother ship to support the primary mission of the carrier. The carrier craft may or may not be able to later recov ...
.
The only dedicated examples to have been built were airships, although existing heavier-than-air aircraft have been modified for use in similar roles, and airborne
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s of various types appear in fiction, such as ''
Cloudbase
Spectrum Cloudbase, often shortened to Cloudbase, is the fictional skyborne headquarters of the international security organisation Spectrum from Gerry Anderson's science-fiction television series ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'' (1967–68). ...
'' in
Gerry Anderson
Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...
's ''
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', often shortened to ''Captain Scarlet'', is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions for distributor I ...
'', the
Helicarrier
The Helicarrier is a fictional flying aircraft carrier appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is depicted as the crucial mobile command center, forward operations platform, and signature capital ship of the fictional int ...
from
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
, the ''Valiant'' from
series 3 Series 3 may refer to:
* 3 Skypephone Series, the mobile phone series
* Apple Watch Series 3, smart watch
* Aston Martin Lagonda Series 3, the automobile model
* Aston Martin V8 Series 3, the automobile model
* BMW 3 Series, the automobile model li ...
of ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
,'' and an unnamed one in ''
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', often shortened to ''Sky Captain'', is a 2004 science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law an ...
''.
Airship projects
In July 1917, experiments were made with aircraft slung under
HM Airship No. 23, in hopes that they could defend the airship. First an unmanned, then a manned,
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...
fighters were launched successfully. The experiment was successfully completed with two other manned Camels.
The British
Imperial Airship Scheme
The British Imperial Airship Scheme was a 1920s project to improve communication between Britain and the distant countries of the British Empire by establishing air routes using airships. The first phase was the construction of two large and t ...
of 1924 initially envisaged an airship that could carry five fighter aircraft in military use, but this requirement was abandoned and the project saw only the civilian
R100
His Majesty's Airship R100 was a privately designed and built British rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop a commercial airship service for use on British Empire routes as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme. The ot ...
and
R101
R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Mi ...
airships to completion.
''Akron''-class
![USS Akron releases its N2Y 1 aircraft](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/USS_Akron_releases_its_N2Y_1_aircraft.jpg)
The two
rigid airship
A rigid airship is a type of airship (or dirigible) in which the envelope is supported by an internal framework rather than by being kept in shape by the pressure of the lifting gas within the envelope, as in blimps (also called pressure airsh ...
s of the , and , were built for
scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
duties for the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
and operational between 1931 and 1935.
Following experiments with launching and recovering small aeroplanes using , the U.S. Navy designed ''Akron'' and ''Macon'' with internal hangars able to house a number of
Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk
The Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk is a light 1930s biplane fighter aircraft that was carried by the United States Navy airships and . It is an example of a parasite fighter, a small airplane designed to be deployed from a larger aircraft such as ...
biplane fighters. The fighters were launched and recovered using a "trapeze" mechanism.
With lengths of , ''Akron'' and ''Macon'' were among the largest flying objects in the world and still hold the world record for helium-filled airships. They were just shorter than the German hydrogen-filled airship
''Hindenburg''.
''Akron'' first flew on 8 August 1931 and ''Macon'' followed on 21 April 1933. The Sparrowhawk fighters became operational in September 1932. ''Akron'' was destroyed on 4 April 1933 and ''Macon'' on 12 February 1935.
During her accident-prone 18-month term of service, the ''Akron'' served as an airborne aircraft carrier for launching and recovering F9C Sparrowhawk fighter planes. ''Akron'' was destroyed in a
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
off the coast of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
on the morning of 4 April 1933, killing 73 of her 76 crewmen and passengers. This accident was the largest loss of life for any airship crash.
''Macon'' was designed to carry biplane
parasite aircraft
A parasite aircraft is a component of a composite aircraft which is carried aloft and air launched by a larger carrier aircraft or mother ship to support the primary mission of the carrier. The carrier craft may or may not be able to later recov ...
, five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawks for scouting or two-seat
Fleet N2Y-1 for training. In service for less than two years, in 1935 ''Macon'' was damaged in a storm and lost off
California's
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
Big Sur
Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...
coast, though most of the crew were saved. The wreckage is listed as "USS ''Macon'' Airship Remains" on the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
Zveno project
Developed in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
during the 1930s, it consisted of a
Tupolev TB-1
The Tupolev TB-1 (development name ANT-4) was a Soviet bomber aircraft, an angular monoplane that served as the backbone of the Soviet bomber force for many years, and was the first large all-metal aircraft built in the Soviet Union.
Design and ...
or a
Tupolev TB-3
The Tupolev TB-3 (russian: Тяжёлый Бомбардировщик, Tyazhyolyy Bombardirovshchik, Heavy Bomber, civilian designation ANT-6) was a monoplane heavy bomber deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and used during the early ...
heavy bomber mothership and two to five fighters. Depending on the variant, the fighters either launched with the mothership or docked in flight, and they could refuel from the bomber. The definitive Zveno-SPB using a TB-3 and two
Polikarpov I-16
The Polikarpov I-16 (russian: Поликарпов И-16) is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain ope ...
s, each armed with two 250 kg (550 lb) bombs, was used operationally with good results against targets in Romania during the opening stages of the German-Soviet War. The same squadron later carried out an attack against a bridge on the River Dnieper that had been captured by German forces.
Lockheed CL-1201
The Lockheed CL-1201 was a study in the late 1960s for a giant atomic-powered transport airplane. Having a wing span of , one variant studied was an airborne aircraft carrier with a complement of up to 22 fighter aircraft carried under its wings.
Convair B-36 Peacemaker
The B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber was at one point in the 1950s intended to function as an airborne aircraft carrier for up to four
McDonnell F-85 Goblin parasite fighters.
Operational F-85-carrying B-36s were to have been capable of refueling and rearming their fighters in flight, while deploying and recovering them on a trapeze-like structure similar to that of the ''Akron'' and the ''Macon''. No B-36 was ever equipped to carry the F-85, however, and the two prototypes only flew from a single modified
B-29
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fly ...
.
Boeing 747 Airborne Aircraft Carrier
![Boeing 747 AAC cutaway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Boeing_747_AAC_cutaway.png)
Boeing 747-AAC (Airborne Aircraft Carrier) was a proposed
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
aircraft designed to be an airborne aircraft carrier. It was a variant of the
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
and a concept which never made it to reality.
In the early 1970s,
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
conducted a study under a contract from the USAF for an airborne aircraft carrier for up to 10 Boeing Model 985-121 "
microfighters", with the ability to launch, retrieve, re-arm, and refuel the microfighters. Boeing believed that the scheme would be able to deliver a flexible and fast carrier platform with global reach, particularly where other bases were not available.
Modified versions of the 747-200 and Lockheed C-5A were considered as the base aircraft. The concept, which included a complementary 747 AWACS version with two reconnaissance "microfighters", was considered technically feasible in 1973.
As the Boeing 747-AAC's size was massive, with power and high-range, they believed that they could use it for military means, with the existence of
aircraft-carriers of massive size, they deemed it to be possible. Modified versions of the 747-200 and Lockheed C-5A were considered as the base aircraft. This caused the concept of a mothership holding microfighters to exist.
Design
![Artwork_of_aac_747_boeing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Artwork_of_aac_747_boeing.jpg)
The design of the 747-AAC had space for a crew of 44, with space for 9-10 microfighters to be in,
The aircraft was designed to carry 10 Boeing Model 985-121 "
microfighters" with the ability to launch, retrieve, re-arm and to refuel.
In the blueprints there is a hangar at the top of fuselage where the cabin would be for an airliner, the hangar holds the microfighters. The back end of the aircraft carrier, at the bottom space near the fin has a section for ''
'armaments and spare parts,'
'' in the bottom front there is launch-bay for releasing fighter aircraft and a recovery-bay near the ''
'armaments and spare parts section. in the bottom center of the aircraft's fuselage would be a section for fueling it's reconnaissance ''Boeing Model 985-121s''
There would be a sliding deck and pressures hatches which would pressurize and depressurize during the microfighters' launch and retrieval.
The airborne aircraft carrier would have 4
jet engines
A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term typicall ...
and a long fuselage, accompanied by sharp wings.
File:Blueprint_of_AAC.webp, 747-AAC and its configurations
File:2nd_Blueprint_of_747-AAC.webp, Sliding deck and pressurized hatches
References
* Boeing 747 AAC: 1970s Concept for Flying Aircraft Carrier , IE (interestingengineering.com)
* Check Out This Novel Concept Of A Flying Aircraft Carrier By The US Airforce (wonderfulengineering.com)
* Boeing 747 AAC (boeing-747.com)
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
Since 2015, the United States Department of Defense has been investigating the prospect of deploying
Dynetics X-61 Gremlins
The Dynetics X-61 Gremlins is an experimental unmanned aerial vehicle designed by Dynetics.
Design and development
The X-61 stemmed from the DARPA Gremlins program to demonstrate a recoverable, low-cost UAV with digital flight controls and n ...
unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
s from modified
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...
cargo aircraft. The plane will be able to deploy, support and recover drones.
After completing their mission, the X-61A will use a proprietary air-recovery method involving a drogue-like receptacle and docking technique. After docking is completed the X-61A will be “reeled in” to the cargo compartment of the C-130. Testing is currently being conducted at Dugway Proving Grounds with International Air Response providing the contracted C-130A.
See also
*
Aircraft cruiser
*
Helicopter carrier
A helicopter carrier is a type of aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters, and has a large flight deck that occupies a substantial part of the deck, which can extend the full length of the ship like of the Royal Navy ( ...
*
Parasite aircraft
A parasite aircraft is a component of a composite aircraft which is carried aloft and air launched by a larger carrier aircraft or mother ship to support the primary mission of the carrier. The carrier craft may or may not be able to later recov ...
*
Submarine aircraft carrier
A submarine aircraft carrier is a submarine equipped with aircraft for observation or attack missions. These submarines saw their most extensive use during World War II, although their operational significance remained rather small. The most fam ...
*
Composite aircraft
A composite aircraft is made up of multiple ''component'' craft. It takes off and flies initially as a single aircraft, with the components able to separate in flight and continue as independent aircraft.Harper (1937) Typically the larger aircraf ...
*
List of fictional airborne aircraft carriers
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Airborne Aircraft Carrier