Composite aircraft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 an independent aircraft.[1] Typically the larger aircraft acts as a carrier aircraft or mother ship, with the smaller sometimes called a parasite or jockey craft.[2]
The first composite aircraft flew in 1916, during World War I, when the British launched a Bristol Scout from a Felixstowe Porte Baby flying boat. Between the World Wars, American experiments with airship/biplane composites led to the construction of two airborne aircraft carriers, while the British Short Mayo seaplane composite demonstrated successful transatlantic mail delivery. During the Second World War some composites saw operational use[1] including the Mistel ("mistletoe"), the larger unmanned component of a composite aircraft configuration developed in Germany during the later stages of World War II, in effect a two-part manned flying bomb. Experiments continued into the jet age, with large aircraft carrying fully capable parasite fighters or reconnaissance drones, though none entered service.
A composite configuration is usually adopted to provide improved performance or operational flexibility for one of the components, compared to a single craft flying alone. Composite designs can take a number of different forms:
In the original composite arrangement, the smaller component carries out the operational mission and is mounted on a larger carrier aircraft or "mother ship".[3][4] Thus it need not be compromised by the requirements for takeoff, climb and initial cruise, but may be optimised for the later stages of the mission.
In another form the larger carrier aircraft conducts the main operational mission, with small parasite aircraft carried to support it or extend its mission if required.[3][5]
A third variant comprises a small piloted jockey component coupled with a larger unpiloted component.[6] This arrangement is typically used as an attack aircraft in which the larger component is loaded with explosives and impacts the target.
The slip-wing composite comprises a lightweight upper lifting component, the slip wing, which assists the lower operational component during initial takeoff and climb: in the true slip-wing, the two wings act together as a biplane. The slip wing component may or may not be powered and/or manned.
Airship-aeroplane composites
During and after World War I, a number of efforts were made to develop airship-plane composites, in which one or more aeroplanes were carried by an airship.
United Kingdom
The first British effort, undertaken in 1916 with a non-rigid SS class airship, was aimed at the anti-Zeppelin role. The airship was to provide fast climb to altitude, while a B.E.2c aeroplane would provide the speed and manoeuvrability to attack the Zeppelin. It ended in disaster when the forward attachment point released prematurely and the aeroplane tipped nose-down. Both crew were killed in the ensuing disaster. By 1918 larger rigid airships were available and a Sopwith Camel was successfully released by HMA 23 in July 1918, but the armistice halted work. The idea was briefly revived in 1925 when the airship R33 was used to launch and then recapture a DH 53 Hummingbird light monoplane aircraft and, in 1926, two Gloster Grebe biplane fighters.[1]
Germany
The first parasite fighter was a German Albatros D.III which flew from Zeppelin L 35 (LZ 80) on January 26, 1918. The LZ 129 Hindenburg later conducted trials using parasite aircraft in the days before it crashed at Lakehurst, but the trial proved unsuccessful as the plane hit the hull trapeze.
United States
In 1923 the TC-3 and TC-7 non-rigid airships launched and recovered a Sperry Messenger biplane.
Then in 1930, the US Navy fitted the USS Los Angeles with a trapeze designed to release and recover a small parasite aircraft. Successful trials with a glider and a biplane led to the construction of the Akron and Macon airships as airborne aircraft carriers.[7]
List of airship-aeroplane composites
| Airship | Aircraft | Country | Date | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L 35/LZ 80 | Albatros D.III | Germany | February 1918 | launched only | Also tested glider bomb |
| HMA 23 | Sopwith 2F.1 Camel | UK | November 1918 | launched only | |
| TC-3 | Sperry Messenger | US | December 1924 | launched & recovered | USAAC Non-rigid airship |
| TC-7 | Sperry Messenger | US | December 1924 | launched & recovered | USAAC Non-rigid airship |
| R33 | de Havilland DH.53 | UK | October 1926 | launched & recovered | |
| R33 | Gloster Grebe | UK | December 1926 | launched & recovered | Two fighters carried simultaneously |
| USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) | Vought UO-1 | US | July 1929 | launched & recovered[8] | US Navy airship |
| USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) | RRG Prüfling glider | US | January 1931 | launched only[8] | |
| USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) | Consolidated N2Y-1 | US | September 1931 | hookup | 1st night hookup |
| LZ 129 Hindenburg | Focke-Wulf Fw 44 | Germany | March 1937 | unsuccessful | US trapeze design, intended for mail planes. |
