Composite aircraft
Encyclopedia
- "Composite aircraft" can also refer to aircraft made using composite materialComposite materialComposite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
s.
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 independent aircraft.
Design principles
The composite configuration is usually adopted to provide increased performance for one of the components, compared to a single craft flying alone. The craft carrying out the operational mission 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 some variants, small parasite aircraftParasite aircraft
A parasite aircraft is a component of a composite aircraft which is carried, and air launched by, a mother ship aircraft.The first use for parasite aircraft was in 1916, when the British used a Bristol Scout, flying from a Felixstowe Porte Baby, a giant flying boat of its time. This eventually...
are provided in support of the main component.
One composite form comprises a large carrier aircraft or mothership and one or more small parasite or jockey craft carried either above or beneath the larger craft.
Another form comprises a small piloted component coupled with a larger unpiloted component, typically used as an attack aircraft.
The slip-wing composite is a theoretical variant comprising 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-planes
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.The first British effort, undertaken in 1916 with a non-rigid SS type airship, was aimed at the anti-Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
role. The airship was to provide fast climb to altitude, while a B.E.2c aeroplane would provide the speed and manoeurvability 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
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
was successfully released, but the armistice halted work. The idea was briefly revived in 1925 when the airship R33 was used to launch and then recapture a D.H.53 and, in 1926, two Gloster Grebe
Gloster Grebe
-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* James, Derek N. Gloster Aircraft since 1917. London: Putnam and Company Ltd., 1987. ISBN 0-85177-807-0.* Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57. London:Putnam, First edition 1957....
s.
In America the airships Akron
USS Akron (ZRS-4)
USS Akron was a helium-filled rigid airship of the United States Navy that was lost in a weather-related accident off the New Jersey coast early on April 4, 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crew and passengers on board...
and Macon
USS Macon (ZRS-5)
USS Macon was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting. She served as a "flying aircraft carrier", launching Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk biplane fighters. In service for less than two years, in 1935 Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast,...
routinely launched and recovered up to four purpose-built F9C Sparrowhawk
F9C Sparrowhawk
|-See also:-External links:...
reconnaissance fighters at a time between 1931 and 1935.
The first composite aeroplanes
In parallel with airship activity, further efforts went into carrying a fighter plane aloft on top of a second aeroplane.In the UK, the Felixstowe Porte Baby
Felixstowe Porte Baby
-References:*Bruce, J.M. "". Flight, 2 December 1955. pp.842—846.*Bruce, J.M. "". Flight, 16 December 1955. pp.895—898.*Bruce, J.M. "". Flight, 23 December 1955. pp.929—932.* accessed 1 February 2007....
/Bristol Scout
Bristol Scout
The Bristol Scout was a simple, single seat, rotary-engined biplane originally intended as a civilian racing aircraft. Like other similar fast, light aircraft of the period - it was acquired by the RNAS and the RFC as a "scout", or fast reconnaissance type...
composite flew in May 1916. The idea was to intercept German Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
airships far out to sea, beyond the normal range of a land or shore based craft. The successful first flight was not followed up, due to the ungainliness of the composite in takeoff and its vulnerability in flight. From 1921, a series of types were adapted as carriers for gliders used in the aerial target role. The Short Mayo Composite
Short Mayo Composite
The Short Mayo Composite was a piggy-back long-range seaplane/flying boat combination produced by Short Brothers to provide a reliable long-range air transport service to the United States and the far reaches of the British Empire and the Commonwealth....
mailplane made successful experimental (including cross-Atlantic) flights in the 1930s before operations were cut short by the outbreak of war.
World War II
The Tupolev Vakhmistrov Zveno projectZveno project
Zveno was a parasite aircraft concept developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. It consisted of a Tupolev TB-1 or a Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber acting as a mothership for between two and five fighters...
developed a series of composite types . The SPB variant, having dive-bombers as the secondary components, saw successful operation.
In the UK, Pemberton-Billing proposed "slip-wing" composite bomber and fighter types, early in the war . Hawker's also worked on a Liberator/Hurricane composite .
In 1943 O.A. Buettner patented a composite design in which the secondary fighter components' wings fitted into depressions in the carrier's upper wing.
A number of composites proposals were considered by German designers during World War II . Of these, only the Mistel
Mistel
The Mistel , also known as Beethoven-Gerät and Vati und Sohn , was a Luftwaffe composite aircraft type of bomber, that appeared late in World War II....
composite reached operational status, and flew a number of combat missions.
Postwar
Experiments with parasite aircraftParasite aircraft
A parasite aircraft is a component of a composite aircraft which is carried, and air launched by, a mother ship aircraft.The first use for parasite aircraft was in 1916, when the British used a Bristol Scout, flying from a Felixstowe Porte Baby, a giant flying boat of its time. This eventually...
continued into the jet age, especially in America, and immmediately post-war, in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
as well for their own advanced jet and rocket-powered experimental designs.
In modern times the term "composite aircraft" tends to refer to types constructed from composite material
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
s. The White Knight/Space Ship One spaceplane is a composite aircraft in both senses.