A flying aircraft carrier is an aircraft capable of carrying several smaller aircraft designed for combat operations in the air.
The idea of ​​its creation arose shortly after the construction and commissioning of zeppelins, better known to the reader as airships.
The creation of an aircraft carrier was considered promising, as it increased the effectiveness of combat aircraft. However, with the advent of tanker aircraft, this area lost its relevance, although it was not completely discounted.
What caused the appearance of flying aircraft carriers
The appearance of new apparatuses, mechanisms is always associated with certain needs of society. As you know, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the First World War broke out, during which combat aircraft were first used on both sides. However, its effectiveness was very low.
The fact is that the aircraft at that time in the arsenal of the armies had a negligible flight range due to the small amount of fuel on board. This seriously limited the use of combat aircraft, since they could operate only in the frontline zone. The enemy rear was out of reach for them.
The need to increase the effectiveness of combat aircraft forced the military to pay attention to zeppelins - airships with a metal shell. These aircraft were quite impressive in size and the ability to fly over long distances. This led to the idea of ​​moving aircraft with them with help over long distances deep into the territory of the enemy for carrying out bombing strikes on strategic targets. So there were flying aircraft carriers. But it should be noted that each country has gone its own way towards the realization of this idea. Not always this path led to successful solutions.
Aircraft carrier airship. First experience
The initial direction in creating a flying aircraft carrier was the use of airships in this capacity, which were widely used in military conflicts, up to the end of World War II.
The aircraft designers considered the following option the most acceptable: the biplane was mounted on board the zeppelin and delivered to the war zone.
After that, the plane was taken out of the airship hatch with a special crane and unhooked. All this happened at full speed of the aircraft carrier. Next was an independent biplane flight.
After completing a combat mission, the aircraft returned to the zeppelin, which continued to cruise in the combat area, at full speed clung to it with a crane hook and was pulled inward. Next, the aircraft carrier returned to the airfield.
At the end of 1918, the American S-1 airship took to the air the Curtiss JN4, attached under a gondola. After lifting, the biplane unhooked and continued to fly on its own.
Subsequently, the United States built two of the largest airships in the history of aviation , the Macon and Akron, which were 239 m long and were capable of carrying up to four fighters. However, the lack of experience in the construction of this kind of zeppelins negatively affected their future fate: both "aircraft" crashed due to poor construction.
Changing the concept of creating aircraft carriers
The experience of using the airship as a flying aircraft carrier showed the failure of this direction. The interest in him after the catastrophe of the world's largest zeppelin “Hindenburg” was especially faded. The hydrogen-filled airship burned out instantly, killing more than three dozen passengers and crew.
Also a significant drawback of the airship carrier was its vulnerability to enemy aircraft. The appearance of enemy aircraft in the area of ​​the aircraft carrier, "stuffed" with hydrogen, meant for him imminent death.
Therefore, already in the First World War, the British made an attempt to create a composite aircraft, that is, an aircraft carrying a fighter. As such an aircraft carrier, the British intended to use a flying boat, fixing a fighter on top of it.
The idea, of course, was good, but difficult to implement. Therefore, a flying aircraft carrier in the form of a composite aircraft was never created by British aircraft designers. However, the bitter foreign experience did not stop Russian aircraft manufacturers.
The idea of ​​aircraft designer V.S. Vakhmistrov
Vladimir Sergeyevich Vakhmistrov - graduate of the Air Fleet Academy. After graduating from the Academy, he worked at the Aviation Research and Testing Institute. Within its walls, the designer came up with the idea of ​​using the TB-1 twin-engine bomber, created by the famous designer Tupolev, as an “air mat”.
Vladimir Sergeyevich proposed fixing two fighters on the wings of TB-1 with special locks.
In this case, the aircraft were used as a bomber defense from enemy aircraft.
It was also planned that after the completion of the bombing of enemy targets, TB-1 and fighters returned to the airfield each independently.
The embodiment of the idea of ​​Vakhmistrov
In mid-1931, the Soviet command approved the plan of V.S. Vakhmistrov, believing that an air carrier was a serious weapon.
A group of young designers began intensive work to create a winged aircraft carrier, or, as it was called then, a link aircraft. At the end of 1931, the flying aircraft carrier Vakhmistrov was ready for testing. The first flights were entrusted to the most experienced pilots of that time, namely Adam Zalevsky (commander of the bomber’s crew), Andrei Sharapov (second BT-1 pilot), Valery Chkalov and Alexander Anisimov (fighter pilots attached on the wings of the bomber).
"Circus of Vakhmistrov"
So called the test flights of the first Soviet air carrier. The fact is that often flights were accompanied by emergency situations.
For example, during the first flight, the uncoordinated actions of the crew of the bomber and the pilot of the Chkalov fighter led to the fact that Zalevsky opened the front locks of the fighter with the rear landing gear of his chassis closed. Only Chkalov’s experience saved everyone from disaster.
A similar situation happened with the fighter V. Kokkinaki: he did not open the lock of the tail landing gear. Here the situation was saved by the bomber commander Stefanovsky, having decided to land with the fighters on the wings. Everything ended happily.
Inspiring Success
The first test flights showed that Soviet flying aircraft carriers are worthy of further development.
To replace the TB-1 bomber, a more powerful TB-3 was created, capable of becoming an aircraft carrier for the new I-5 Polikarpov fighters. At the same time, it became possible to increase the number of portable fighters to three - two on the wings and one on the fuselage.
Vakhmistrov made an attempt to secure fighters under the wings of TB-3, but it ended in the death of a fighter pilot. The cause of the disaster was again the lock of the airplane’s mount on the “aircraft jack”, which did not open in the air, but triggered spontaneously during landing.
In 1935, a Soviet flying aircraft carrier was capable of transporting five fighter jets already, while one of them (I-Z) was connected to the “aircraft jack” in the air.
In 1938, a flying aircraft carrier was adopted by the Red Army.
The most famous aircraft carriers
Five flying aircraft carriers are known to have left their mark on aviation history - the Soviet TB-1 Tupolev, Tu-95N, the American Convair B-36, Boeing B-29 Superfortress and the Akron airship.
Soviet TB-1 is the world's first serial all-metal monoplane bomber used as a carrier for light aircraft. The aircraft carrier received baptism of fire on July 26, 1941, when, with its help, fighter-bombers finally "got" the German oil storage in Constance.
The project “Flying Aircraft Carrier” Vakhmistrov’s homeland has not been forgotten. In 1955, work began in the USSR on the creation of an attack strategic system, which included a supersonic RS bomber and a Tu-95N carrier aircraft.
It was assumed that the RS will be partially located in the cargo compartment of the aircraft carrier. The system was supposed to ensure the defeat of targets without entering the enemy air defense zone and returning to the airfield.
The American Convair B-36 took part in the creation of a heavy bombers cover system, which involved transporting up to four lightweight McDonnell XF-85 Goblin fighters.
However, due to the difficulty of connecting the fighter with the B-36, the project was closed in 1949. In addition, the U.S. Air Force command found the false imitation targets issued by a bomber in case of enemy aircraft attack more effective than a cover combat fighter.
Boeing B-29, the development of the 40s, provided for the carrying of two fighters. However, the powerful turbulence at the ends of the wings of the B-29 led to disaster, the project was closed, and the concept was recognized as dangerous.
The American airship USS Akron of the 30s was one of the largest zeppelins in the world. He was able to transport up to five light aircraft, whose mission was reconnaissance.
Flying Carriers of the Future
Fortunately, the American and Soviet flying aircraft carriers reviewed above have not yet created precedents for their combat use, with the exception of the operation to destroy the oil storage in Constance during World War II.
However, the idea of ​​creating a flying aircraft carrier still excites the minds of designers.
For example, the United States Defense Research Planning Agency (DARPA) has launched the Gremlins program to develop drones capable of taking off and returning to an aircraft carrier.