 | This article has an unclear citation style .(December 2022) |
An airborne aircraft carrier is a type of mother ship aircraft which can carry, launch, retrieve and support other smaller parasite aircraft. [1] The only dedicated examples to have been built were airships, although existing heavier-than-air aircraft have been modified for use in similar roles.
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 fighters were launched successfully. The experiment was successfully completed with two other manned Camels. [2]
The British Imperial Airship Scheme 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 and R101 airships to completion. [3]
The two rigid airships of the Akron class, Akron and Macon, were built for scouting duties for the U.S. Navy and operational between 1931 and 1935.
Following experiments with launching and recovering small aeroplanes using USS Los Angeles, the U.S. Navy designed Akron and Macon with internal hangars able to house a number of Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk biplane fighters. The fighters were launched and recovered using a "trapeze" mechanism. [4]
With lengths of 785 ft (239 m), Akron and Macon were among the largest flying objects in the world and still hold the world record for helium-filled airships.[ citation needed ] They were just 20 ft (6.1 m) 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. [5] [6]
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 [7] in a thunderstorm off the coast of New Jersey 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. [8]
Macon was designed to carry biplane parasite aircraft, 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 Big Sur 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 ZRCV was a proposed successor to the Akron class which was not built. It would have carried 9 dive bombers. [9] [10]
Developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s, it consisted of a Tupolev TB-1 or a Tupolev TB-3 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-16s, 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.
The B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber was at one point in the 1950s intended to function as an airborne aircraft carrier[ verification needed ] for up to four McDonnell F-85 Goblin parasite fighters. [11] 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.
To counter improving Soviet defences after the cancellation of Skybolt, Avro proposed a Vulcan with three Gnat fighters slung underneath. [12] The Gnats were to have been released in enemy airspace to provide fighter cover, and they were expected to land "in friendly territory" or return to the Vulcan to replenish their tanks by means of a specially installed flight-refuelling drogue. [13]
The Lockheed CL-1201 was a study in the late 1960s for a giant atomic-powered transport airplane. Having a wing span of 1,120 feet (340 m), one variant studied was an airborne aircraft carrier with a complement of up to 22x F-4 Phantom fighter aircraft carried under its wings. [14]
Boeing 747-AAC (Airborne Aircraft Carrier) was a proposed Boeing aircraft designed to be an airborne aircraft carrier. It was a variant of the Boeing 747 and a concept which never made it to reality.
In the early 1970s, Boeing 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. [15]
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. [16]
The design of the 747-AAC had space for a crew of 44. The aircraft was designed to carry 10 Boeing Model 985-121 "microfighters" with the ability to launch, retrieve, re-arm and 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 its 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.
Since 2015, the United States Department of Defense has been investigating the prospect of deploying Dynetics X-61 Gremlins unmanned aerial vehicles [17] from modified Lockheed C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft. The plane will be able to deploy, support and recover drones. [18] [19] 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.
Airborne aircraft carriers of various types appear in fiction, such as Cloudbase in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons , the Helicarrier from Marvel Comics, the Iron Vulture, a hybrid airship from Talespin , the Valiant from series 3 of Doctor Who , and an unnamed one in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow .
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary military of any type. Some military aircraft engage directly in aerial warfare, while others take on support roles:
USS Akron (ZRS-4) was a helium-filled rigid airship of the U.S. Navy, the lead ship of her class, which operated between September 1931 and April 1933. It was the world's first purpose-built flying aircraft carrier, carrying F9C Sparrowhawk fighter planes, which could be launched and recovered while it was in flight. With an overall length of 785 ft (239 m), Akron and her sister ship Macon were among the largest flying objects ever built. Although LZ 129 Hindenburg and LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II were some 18 ft (5.5 m) longer and slightly more voluminous, the two German airships were filled with hydrogen, and so the two US Navy craft still hold the world record for the largest helium-filled airships.
The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin is an American prototype fighter aircraft conceived during World War II by McDonnell Aircraft. It was intended to deploy from the bomb bay of the Convair B-36 bomber as a parasite fighter. The XF-85's intended role was to defend bombers from hostile interceptor aircraft, a need demonstrated during World War II. McDonnell built two prototypes before the Air Force (USAF) terminated the program.
The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) are two extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters. One (N905NA) is a 747-100 model, while the other (N911NA) is a short-range 747-100SR. Both are now retired.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1932:
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.
USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting and served as a "flying aircraft carrier", carrying up to five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk parasite biplanes for scouting or two-seat Fleet N2Y-1s for training. In service for less than two years, the Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast in February 1935, though most of the crew were saved. The wreckage is listed as the USS Macon Airship Remains on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
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 recover the parasite during flight.
A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word hangar comes from Middle French hanghart, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *haimgard, from *haim and gard ("yard"). The term, gard, comes from the Old Norse garðr.
Air launching is the practice of releasing a rocket, missile, parasite aircraft or other aircraft payload from a mother ship or launch aircraft. The payload craft or missile is often tucked under the wing of the larger mother ship and then "dropped" while in flight. It may also be stored within a bomb bay, beneath the main fuselage or even on the back of the carrier aircraft, as in the case of the D-21 drone. Air launching provides several advantages over ground launching, giving the smaller craft an altitude and range boost, while saving it the weight of the fuel and equipment needed to take off on its own.
The Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk is a light 1930s biplane fighter aircraft that was carried by the United States Navy airships USS Akron and Macon. It is an example of a parasite fighter, a small airplane designed to be deployed from a larger aircraft such as an airship or bomber.
The Northrop Grumman X-47B is a demonstration unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed for aircraft carrier-based operations. Developed by the American defense technology company Northrop Grumman, the X-47 project began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and subsequently became part of the United States Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. The X-47B is a tailless jet-powered blended-wing-body aircraft capable of semi-autonomous operation and aerial refueling.
Sometimes dubbed the Golden Age of Aviation, the period in the history of aviation between the end of World War I (1918) and the beginning of World War II (1939) was characterised by a progressive change from the slow wood-and-fabric biplanes of World War I to fast, streamlined metal monoplanes, creating a revolution in both commercial and military aviation. By the outbreak of World War II in 1939 the biplane was all but obsolete. This revolution was made possible by the continuing development of lightweight aero engines of increasing power. The jet engine also began development during the 1930s but would not see operational use until later.
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. Typically the larger aircraft acts as a carrier aircraft or mother ship, with the smaller sometimes called a parasite or jockey craft.
The Boeing Phantom Ray is an American demonstration stealth unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) developed by Boeing. The autonomous Phantom Ray is a flying wing around the size of a conventional fighter jet, and first flew in April 2011. It will conduct a program of test flights involving surveillance, ground attack and autonomous aerial refueling missions. The developers say it can carry 4,500 pounds of payload.
Sparrowhawk is a name applied to several bird species.
The Lockheed Martin Sea Ghost was a proposal to fulfill the United States Navy's requirement for an Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike aircraft.
Unlike later blimp squadrons, which contained several airships, the large rigid airship units consisted of a single airship and, in the case of the USS Akron and USS Macon, a small contingent of fixed-wing aircraft.
The Akron-class airships were a class of two rigid airships constructed for the US Navy in the early 1930s. Designed as scouting and reconnaissance platforms, the intention for their use was to act as "eyes for the fleet", extending the range at which the US Navy's Scouting Force could operate to beyond the horizon. This capability was extended further through the use of the airships as airborne aircraft carriers, with each capable of carrying a small squadron of airplanes that could be used both to increase the airship's scouting range, and to provide self-defense for the airship against other airborne threats.
The Boeing MQ-25 Stingray is an aerial refueling drone that resulted from the Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System (CBARS) program, which grew out of the earlier Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program. The MQ-25 first flew on 19 September 2019.
...ZRS-4 was a real aircraft carrier. It had been found feasible to attach an aeroplane to Los Angeles in flight and later release it again, but ZRS-4 could, while in flight, actually receive in flight five scout or reconnaissance aeroplanes and store them in a special hangar inside its huge belly.
