Flying Aircraft Carriers of the USAF
Flying Aircraft Carriers of the USAF

Author: Brian Lockett

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2008-09-11

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 0615252761

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Project FICON (Fighter conveyer): In the early 1950s, the Air Force conducted a series of experiments to establish the feasibility of carrying, launching, and retrieving jet reconnaissance airplanes from giant Convair RB-36 bombers. It was hoped that the bombers would carry the reconnaissance jets to the perimeter of the Soviet Union and then release them to penetrate the air defenses. Tests of the concept were conducted in 1952 and 1953 with a Republic F-84E Thunderjet and the YF-84F Thunderstreak prototype. Twenty-six Republic RF-84F Thunderflashes and ten Convair GRB-36D carriers were modified for the project. In 1955, a squadron of carriers was established at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. A squadron of parasites was established at nearby Larson Air Force Base. Training operations began in December 1955, but the composite aircraft system faced competition from the Boeing RB-52B, Lockheed U-2, and the development of aerial refueling.

Flying Aircraft Carriers of the USAF: Wing Tip Coupling
Flying Aircraft Carriers of the USAF: Wing Tip Coupling

Author: Brian Lockett

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2009-07-01

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13: 0578031868

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During and after World War II, aircraft designers were faced with the problem of increasing the range of strategic bombers. Dr. Richard Vogt, a German immigrant to the United States, proposed that floating wing panels carrying fuel tanks could be attached to the wing tips of an airplane with hinges to extend its range. The floating wing panels would support their own weight, without increasing the load on the airplane's wings. The Air Force initiated a project to simulate floating wing panels with a piloted light plane that coupled to a larger airplane in flight. Soon the scope of the project expanded to explore the possibility of towing fighters coupled to the wing tips of bombers.

Flying Aircraft Carriers of the USAF: McDonnell Xf-85 Goblin
Flying Aircraft Carriers of the USAF: McDonnell Xf-85 Goblin

Author: Brian Lockett

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2009-08-01

Total Pages: 54

ISBN-13: 0578034816

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The P-85 Goblin was the only airplane that ever flew which was designed from scratch to be operated entirely from another airplane. The development of the B-36 by the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation of Fort Worth, Texas resulted in a requirement for fighter protection for the bomber at distances from any friendly base that far exceeded the range of currently available escort fighter airplanes. Due to the inability of contemporary fighters to escort B-36 bombers all the way to their targets, the Army Air Corps initiated Project MX-472, Unconventional Fighter Design Studies, on December 3, 1942. The primary objective of the project was the development of a suitable method of protecting the B-36 on long-range bombing missions. The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation designed the P-85 Goblin to fit entirely within the confines of the bomb bay of the B-36. The little fighter was just fifteen feet long with a wing sapn of twenty-one feet.

In Search of a Good Host
In Search of a Good Host

Author: Nathan E. Padgett

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13:

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"As technological advances appear to indicate a possibility of the US Air Force returning to utilize airborne aircraft-carriers, I look to the past. In the last 100 years, the US military has attempted to create multiple flying aircraft-carriers, yet none of them operate today. This study examines what happened in some of those trials, where they succeeded and failed, and derives recurring themes from the attempts as potential guidelines for future carrier efforts. To accomplish this, I first suggest a break from using the airborne aircraft-carrier term and instead to use Airborne Vehicular-LaunchPlatform (AVLP). I then examine three cases in depth. They include the US Navy’s rigid airship program and two from the US Air Force: the Fighter Conveyance program and the Lightning Bugs unmanned aircraft. From my analysis, I provide technological, logistical, operational, and administrative findings. The study finds that AVLPs create logistic and tactical advantages in some operations. Moreover, it concludes that the airships failed as a viable platform, while the other two attempts succeeded. Key facets like iterative and modular designs, the enabling of longer sorties for launchable assets, multi-mission capability, and the existence of a military advocate appear to correlate with successful programs. I close with a brief analysis of current AVLP efforts and the particular challenges they may face."--Abstract.

Fly Navy
Fly Navy

Author: Philip Kaplan

Publisher: MetroBooks

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13:

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Describes aircraft carriers of the past and present, the planes that have flown from them, and the lives of the men and women who run the ships and fly the planes.

Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy
Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy

Author: Michael Green

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2015-04-30

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 147385444X

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This pictorial history of US aircraft carriers illustrates the many classes and types of carriers used by the navy from before WWII to the present day. In 1922 the US Navy commissioned its first small experimental aircraft carrier. This was followed into service by two much larger carriers in 1927 with five more being built— including three large Yorktown class—prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Then, to take the offensive against the Japanese Navy, the American Congress funded by far the largest carrier-building program in history. Since 1975, when the first of a fleet of ten nuclear-powered Nimitz class carriers was commissioned, The United States Navy’s fleet of carriers has optimized its superpower status and worldwide power projection. Yet these are due to be replaced in the decades to come with the even more sophisticated nuclear-powered Gerald R. Ford class. Compiled and written by Michael Green, Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy contains superb images of all the different types of classes of carriers employed by the US Navy since 1922. These and its highly informative text and captions give the reader a broad overview of this fascinating subject.