The Air Force’s Crazy 747 Aircraft Carrier Concept

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It sounds like the stuff of science fiction: A Boeing 747 with an internal hanger loaded with 10 specially designed fighter jets. An on board crew to launch, recover, refuel and rearm the jets while in mid-flight. Sleeping quarters and a crew lounge to ensure that a squadron of 14 fighter pilots and 18 mission specialists stay rested. All of it hurtling forward at Mach 0.85, 35 thousand feet above sea-level. That’s asking a lot from a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet. But a once classified feasible study prepared for the U.S. Air Force details how it could be done.

An Airborne Aircraft Carrying Boeing 747 might have been an overly-ambitious, overly-complex and ham-handed idea from 1970s, but it wasn’t entirely out of left field. The U.S. Military had been experiment with the aerial aircraft carrier concepts for nearly half a century. In the early 1930s, two U.S. Navy airships, the USS Akron and the USS Macon carried up to 5 planes stored inside an internal hangar bay. These airborne aircraft carriers enhanced the Navy’s seaborne scouting ability, and the airships’ onboard planes could be deployed for further scouting or defensive purposes. But both USS Akron and Macon were destroyed in weather related accidents not even 3 years after their introductions, helping to put an end to any future airship-based aircraft carriers. But the experiments continued in the 1940s, this time spurred on by a need to protect long-range intercontinental bombers. A seemingly sensible solution to extending escort fighter range was to have long-range bombers carry escort fighters onboard which could be deployed and recovered when needed. But the promising concept proved far more difficult in reality, with aircraft recovery being a particularly dangerous endeavor. Multiple docking methods were attempted, but only one version using a trapeze mechanism and a full-sized fighter ever saw limited service. By the mid-1950s, aerial refueling had proven itself to be a far more practical and safe solution to extending aircraft range.
Yet, the Air Force reexamined the concept again in the early 1970s. This time, spurred on by perceived strategic vulnerabilities to conventional seaborne carriers and the new opportunities brought on the enormous Boeing 747 and Lockheed C-5. The feasibility study titled #747 #Boeing #FlyingAircraftCarrier

Select footage courtesy the AP Archive

Special thanks to Nick Arehart for helping clean up our audio:

Thanks for watching!

[KelsomaticPDX]

Juan Trippe: "The 747 would be a great weapon for pea-"
USAF: "A weapon you say?"
Juan: "No no, not, please"

[samovarmaker]

"is that a 747?"
"No that's just lots of jet fighters in a trench coat"

[RamDown]

That tiny fighter jet looks like those rides you put a quarter in.

[gasmaskguy]

Everyone: USA, You should just stick with boats.

Usa: ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴇ ᴀ ɢᴏᴅᴅᴀᴍɴ ᴀʀꜱᴇɴᴀʟ ʙɪʀᴅ

[Bigfoot_With_Internet_Access]

How about we build an aircraft carrier carrier

[GOAK_]

Trippe: "The 747 would be a great weapon for peace"

The United States: *w e a p o n*

[ThisHandleIsNotAvailable.]

I want a plane made out of planes that shoots planes at other planes.

[captain_commenter]

Trippe: the 747 is a weapon of peace!

Air Force: We making a weapon today

Trippe: No wait that’s not what I-

Air Force: *I said we making a weapon today*

[turzkahdus]

"The Navy's seaborne carrier force could already move air power across oceans."


Next step would be a plane that can drop small warships in the enemies' swimming pools, yes?

[calcium]

You don't post much, but when you do, it's a treat

[FitzCritz]

Fighter pilot: it’s ok sir, it’s only one cargo plane
cargo plane: *releases 15 drones*
Fighter pilot: FALL BACK

[RubricalChain]

Imperial Japan: *submarine aircraft carrier*
USA: *Flying aircraft carrier*

[artwizardsam]

4:13 that poor little jet trying to dock is so cute lol

[mail]

Juan Trippe: The 747 would be a great weapon for p-“
US Air Force: I think we heard enough.

[ianchristie]

A major issue would have been the extremely limited space to rearm and do any repairs in-flight. If this had in fact been developed, I imagine them reducing the onboard aircraft to only 5 or 6 fighters.

[krow]

I think if we revisited this concept today, we might be able to get it to work. Folding wings, like on the Hornet. New alloys to cut weight. I think it could be done, but I don't know if the fighters would be a match for now 6th gen full size fighters. And we have planes that can drop precision guided munitions and then do their own air to air fighting.

[mdittus]

I imagine tie fighters coming out of a star destroyer like the scene in solo

[DividedByZeero]

“Weapon of peace”
American military: ima stop you right there

[themechanic.]

The Micro-Fighters looked like something straight out of Star Wars.

[Kohl]

Juan: “Great weapon for peace”
USAF: “All I heard was weapon.”