Boeing’s design for a flying aircraft carrier was viable. What went wrong?

In the 1970s, the US Air Force worked with Boeing on a plan to transform a 747 into an air base capable of transporting, launching and recovering “microfighters” — but concluded that being technically viable was not enough to justify the cost and military limitations of the concept.

One looks like the kind of vehicle we’re more used to seeing in sci-fi or Marvel superhero films, like the iconic “Helicarrier” from the Avengers. The idea is so fanciful that it’s easy to forget that such a device could, in fact, have a practical use.

According to , recently declassified documents indicate that Boeing even developed plans to transform its 747 into an aircraft carrier in the skies.

In 1973, the United States Air Force worked with Boeing on a study designed to evaluate the feasibility of using the 747 as a kind of flying base for smaller aircraft, such as small fighters. The most interesting thing is that the study concluded that the idea was technically viable.

If executed correctly, a flying aircraft carrier would, in theory, allow the US to respond efficiently and effectively to the military needs of its allies around the world, without depending on sea transportmuch slower.

Of course, unless the Air Force is operating certain secret vehicles unknown to the general public, the idea of ​​a flying aircraft carrier never became a reality. AND there is a fundamental reason for the plans not to have evolved into a working prototype—as impressive as that would have been.

According to the Boeing report, it would have been possible to redesign the fuselage of a Boeing 747 in order to comfortably accommodate up to 10 microhunts. Each of the microfighters could, and in theory, be launched in 80 seconds.

In theory, these planes would also be able to re-enter the 747or, in practice, re-couple with it, where a team could take about 10 minutes to reset and refuel each microhunt.

The report suggests that the Boeing team was confident in the designs and plans for this unusual military vehicle. However, the Air Force ultimately decided not to bring the project into the real world.

Although other factors probably played a role in this decision, everything indicates that the Air Force concluded that the small fighters that the aerial aircraft carrier would have to house and transport would not offer the combat capabilities necessary to succeed in modern warfare.

Ultimately, those responsible decided that the potential benefits of the concept did not justify the resources needed to make it a reality. Sometimes, an extravagant idea, even if viable, simply doesn’t justify the investment — as is the case with Lockheed Martin’s crazy one, which also didn’t happen.