The flying machine above, conceived by Grover Loening and drawn by Mike Ramus, is an airfield that is designed to get up in the air. Mr. Loening, designer of the first successful amphibian plane, proposes the giant flying aircraft carrier both to get fuel-hungry jet fighters into the stratosphere without burning up their own fuel and to eliminate the need for vulnerable land airbases.
The huge craft, which Mr. Loening believes will one day be built although perhaps not in this form, would fly at 500 mph, carrying 20 supersonie jet fighters inside. To take off, a fighter plane would be lifted to the top deck hooked to a huge hinged ramp. By unhooking itself, it would become immediately airborne at 500 mph. A plane coming in to land would simply set down at 500 mph and hook up. Then it would be lowered, as the drawing shows, on the ramp. Designer Loening believes that turbulence troubles would be negligible.
Inside the double-decked hull plane handlers wearing pressure suits are shown refueling jet planes on the lower deck while others prepare for flight in the compartment above. Under the wing an airman checks bomb stores while two others repair a disabled aircraft. The big plane itself, powered by 20 engines, would be built as a seaplane so that it could operate from seas, rivers and lakes all over the world.
.jpg)
Social Plugin