probably a lot of you were already aware of this, but it really blows my mind.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/flying-aircraft-carrier- 3772/Overview
You are toast, my toasty friend.
Yes, there really were flying aircraft carriers. Of course, they were very different from those portrayed in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", but they did exist.
If you thought that was amazing, prepare to have your mind blown again: http://information2share.wordpress.com/2007/12/31/flying-submarines/
Courage, men! We've not sunk before, and we'll not sink now!
The flying aircraft carriers reminded me of cloud base on Captain Scarlet
shareThat may have been Kerry Conran's inspiration for them.
Courage, men! We've not sunk before, and we'll not sink now!
His direct inspiration was the SHIELD hellicarrier, from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, though the Cloud Base is from the same era.
The Akron and the Macon could carry 5 Sparrowhawk planes, though they were outdated even then. During one naval exercise, one of the two was declared to have sunk an opposing ship, though the reality would have been harder to achieve.
It's doubtful that airships could have ever been pratical aircraft launching platforms, for operations similar to a real aircraft carrier (due to weight alone); but, they could have made great sub hunters, as the blimps did. Their planes could have been used to drop torpedoes and depth charges, though the blimps could do that just as well.
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."-Groucho
so, flying aircraft carriers were REAL?!?
Shhh. That's classified.