Aviation is a branch of many curiosities, several ideas have already emerged in this fascinating environment that is the world of aviation. One of these ideas is a movie scene, how about an airplane, more specifically a Boeing 747 that could launch and collect planes in flight?
It may seem like a strange thing more or less between the 50's and 70's that came to be considered and studied by the North American manufacturer and the USAF.
The project was called Airborne Aircraft Carrier (AAC), in short the 747 would carry special planes called (microfighters) inside its fuselage and would throw them in and then pick them up again. In addition, the 747 could refuel these aircraft so that missions could last as long as possible.
At the time, Wright - Patterson Air Force Base, in Ohio, had been chosen to carry out the studies of this rather strange project, since the US Air Force Dynamics Laboratory operated there.
In this scheme below we can see how the military at the time would think the ACC project would be.
During the development of the project, a study was carried out and it even aimed at actions in relation to the Soviet movement at the time, such as the 747 ACC not being identified by radars from the former USSR.
The possibility of placing these ACCs in strategic places, such as in the Middle East, for example, was also studied.
More details about this ambitious project can be seen at this link, which gives access to a PDF with more information.
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/529372.pdf
Time ed and we saw that the Boeing 747 aircraft carrier was never designed and used, studies at the time pointed out that such a project would be unfeasible but that it enters the roll of aviation curiosities.
Quick Trivia: Aircraft Carrier Airships
Still within this scenario of launching things from other flying objects, there were microfighters, which are aircraft that could have been transported and launched by another aerial vehicle and this happened but by means of airships.
Some examples that we can mention was the great British airship Class 23 designed by Vickers. Four units were built during World War I.
The USS Macron of the US Navy was utilized as the large airborne aircraft that could carry up to five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawks for observation or two-seat Fleet N2Y-1s for training.
sources:
- Boeing 747
- airline
Edition: Aeroflap
