AIRBORNE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
______The airships were initially equipped with the XF9C "Sparrowhawk" fighter. The way hookup worked, the airship had to move at almost its maximum speed while the airplane had to slow just above stall speed. A trapeze mechanism was lowered beneath the airship and the the aircraft tried to hookup to it with an attachment fitted in the center of its upper wing. Once this was accomplished an arm was lowered and hooked over the the rear of the plane's fusilage. The aircraft could then be raised into the "hanger" through the airplane-shaped door beneath the airship.
______While practical, the operation was never easy. And the utility of the aircraft, as reconnaisance planes or torpedo carriers were offset by the difficulty of finding their way back to their ship, which was itself could be flying over 80 mph. As far as self-defense was concerned, the five planes carried by one of the airships was too small to keep away a determined attack.
