The TC-3 and the TC-7 were the two US Army Corps non-rigid blimps

Non-rigid airship

A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag...

 used for parasite fighter

Parasite 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...

 trials conducted in 1923-24. A single Sperry Messenger

Sperry Messenger

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 biplane was equipped with a skyhook to engage the temporary trapeze mounted to the control carriage of the blimp itself. The first successful docking was achieved on December 15, 1924. Despite the completely successful results of the program, the Army chose not to develop the concept further. It was the Navy which began the better-known project in 1925 using rigid airships, the USS Los Angeles (ZR-3)

USS Los Angeles (ZR-3)

The second USS Los Angeles was a rigid airship, designated ZR-3, that was built in 1923-1924 by the Zeppelin factory in Friedrichshafen, Germany, where it was originally designated LZ-126...

, the USS Macon (ZRS-5)

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,...

 and the USS Akron (ZRS-4)

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...

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External links

• Parasite Experiments
• Unreal Aircraft: Skyhook
• "Wild Night In The T-C-10", September 1931, Popular Mechanics article/photos on the TC-10, of the same class as the TC-3
• "The West Point Of The Air"" Popular Mechanics, June 1930, TC class pages 941, 943 (bottom), 944