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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"My, who would've imagined a floating aircraft carrier?"''
|'''Lloyd Asplund''', ''[[Code Geass]]''}}
Flight has always fascinated humanity. First came legends of [[Winged Humanoid
▲{{quote|''"My, who would've imagined a floating aircraft carrier?"''|'''Lloyd Asplund''', ''[[Code Geass]]''}}
Well, the result of this daydreaming is the Airborne Aircraft Carrier! This is a step above the simple boat most video games use to ferry the player around; it is a literal mobile floating fortress and airport, capable of raining [[Death From Above]] like few fictional [[Military Mashup Machine
▲Flight has always fascinated humanity. First came legends of [[Winged Humanoid|Winged Humanoids]] and [[Floating Continent|Floating Continents]], then eventually [[Zeppelins from Another World|zeppelins]] and actual airplanes. When the aircraft carrier was invented, its [[Rule of Cool|sheer awesome]] (and force projection) made the battleship a military relic. Considering this, is it any surprise that people have wanted to combine the awesome of the airplane, aircraft carrier, zeppelin and floating continent into one?
▲Well, the result of this daydreaming is the Airborne Aircraft Carrier! This is a step above the simple boat most video games use to ferry the player around; it is a literal mobile floating fortress and airport, capable of raining [[Death From Above]] like few fictional [[Military Mashup Machine|Military Mashup Machines]]. At its most basic, it serves as a refueling station like an island in the sky; a carrier; add some guns to make it a combination battleship; and if you're into that sort of thing, [[Humongous Mecha|robot transformations]]. A similar concept on a smaller scale is the usage of parasite aircraft piggybacking on larger ones.
As listed below, [[Truth in Television|this one was attempted several times in real life]]. So far, it's only worked once.
Compare to [[The Battlestar]], which is this... [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE]]! Occasionally part of a [[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==▼
▲== Anime ==
* The ''Arcus Prima'', ''Messis'', and assorted enemy vessels from ''[[Simoun]]''.
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** The Aeromarine, belonging to SHIELD knock-off/parody organization HATE in ''[[Nextwave]]'', probably counts as well, despite appearing to be an airborne ''submarine''. In fact, ''dozens'' of submarines ''welded together''. We've yet to determine whether this is cool or not, it could frankly go either way.
* The Gull Wing from ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'' is so enormous that it isn't able to actually land, and processes clouds for hydrogen to keep its engines running perpetually (presumably there are other types of generators to make the necessary energy expenditure feasible).
** What's more, the Gull Wing is itself an airplane ('''NOT''' a helicopter or airship) and in the case of the original version (Gull ''Base''), with a charming disregard for such laws-of-physics-related concerns as wind resistance, other airplanes
* In the ''[[G.I. Joe]]/[[Transformers Generation 2]]'' crossover from the early nineties, Slice (a ninja working for Cobra) comments that the Ark (the Autobots' starship) is bigger than an aircraft carrier, but still flying.
** Come to think of it, does this count when the aircraft ''are'' the crew?
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== Literature ==
* In a recent{{when}} ''[[BattleTech]]'' Technical Readout "Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex" a Airship Fighter carrier capable of carrying approximately 6 Fighters was introduced.▼
* [[Pulp Magazine]] superspy ''[[Operator 5]]'' confronted an
▲* In a recent ''[[BattleTech]]'' Technical Readout "Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex" a Airship Fighter carrier capable of carrying approximately 6 Fighters was introduced.
▲* [[Pulp Magazine]] superspy ''[[Operator 5]]'' confronted an [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier]] in the 1930's, making this [[Older Than Television]]. That [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier]] was merely a large platform supported by balloons.
* Phillip Reeve's ''[[Mortal Engines]]'' quartet features Airhaven, an entire town suspended from hot air balloons and gas cells, which serves as a hub for many air traders.
* '70s novel ''A Game of Titans'' pits the [[Real Life]] Soviet aircraft carrier ''Kiev'' against the USAF nuclear-powered airship ''Grand Eagle''. The airship carries a contingent of Harriers. It also has cruise missiles and lasers.
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* Deconstructed (along with various other [[Gerry Anderson]] tropes) in the ''[[Doctor Who]] [[Past Doctor Adventures]]'' novel "The Indestructible Man" by Simon Messingham. SKYHOME is derided as a pollution-spewing technological white elephant that uses the power of a small country just to remain stable (it has a tendency to lurch at unpredictable moments, sending equipment everywhere) and is too expensive to break up, yet can't be allowed to degrade for fear it'll crash on everyone's head.
* Played a bit uniquely in ''[[Animorphs]]'', where Tobias serves as the trope, carrying the other Animorphs in bug morph and then dropping them off someplace for a mission.
* [[Poul Anderson]]'s ''Orion Shall Rise'' had Skyholm,<ref>Not "home" but "holm," from a Norse word for "island," thus "Sky Island."</ref> an airborne '''city''' which could launch aircraft. For the most part, its aircraft weren't built for combat, but for flying into hurricanes to chart their patterns so Skyholm could then use its lasers to disrupt those patterns and cause the hurricane to tear itself apart. Of course, any pilot ("Stormrider," they called them) who can survive flying right into the worst of a hurricane like that is '''not''' somebody you want to take on in the air, and at least some of Skyholm's planes '''were''' armed.
== Live Action TV ==
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the UNIT carrier ''Valiant'' is large enough for '''Air Force One''' to land on
** Sad to say, for all its awesomeness, it was not up to {{spoiler|fending off a full-scale Dalek attack in the next season, and was destroyed}}.
* A pilot for a [[Nick Fury]] television series was filmed starring David Hasselhoff. It naturally included the Helicarrier.
* The ''[[Battlestar Galactica
* The X-303 (Prometheus) from ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' acted like this in the battle over Antarctica.
== Tabletop Games ==
* Have cropped up now and then in ''[[Warhammer
* ''[[Dungeons
** ''[[Mystara]]'' has the Flying City of Serraine, a mobile airborne city-state with its own [[Magitek]] air force, the Top Ballista squadrons. Skygnome-built versions of WWI-era fighter planes launch from the airstrip mounted along the edge of the city, kept aloft by fantasy physics, tactically supported by winged centaurs and venom-clawed monkeys, and occasionally imperiled by gremlin saboteurs. Yep, Mystara is a weird freaking' place.
** ''[[Eberron]]'' has Argonth, a floating fortress, which has docking towers for airships and could potentially launch flying monster cavalry, so it probably counts.
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** In ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'', he ''really'' ups the ante with an ''entire fleet'', with the flagship being at least as twice as big as the original Egg Carrier, and twice as armed.
** Altitude Limit Zone from the first ''[[Sonic Rush Series|Sonic Rush]]'' game would be an example if it had some actual structure and was more than a flying rail system. It still has plenty of aircraft, though.
** In ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006
** The opening of ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'' features a whole fleet of these similar to the ''Heroes'' example, only they're in space. Sonic still [[Batman Can Breathe in Space|has no trouble destroying them, despite the lack of air]]. The first boss, the Egg Cauldron, is a less exotic example.
** In ''[[Sonic Generations]]'', another one of these is seen terrorizing [[Sonic Unleashed|Spagonia]]. If you're really skilled, you can even destroy it on foot.
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* True to its ''[[Independence Day]]'' homage roots, the Aeon's experimental saucer from ''[[Supreme Commander]]'' does both this and packs a core-based death beam. The downside is it's rather fragile, and relies a great deal on its flying complement to protect it and draw fire.
* ''[[Battlefield (series)|Battlefield 2142]]'' has Titans, flying bases that are the center of a certain gamemode. The goal is to bring the enemy Titan down either by missiles launched from silos on the ground, or by invading it and destroying vital elements. The Titans launch fighter craft and drop ships from its' decks.
* The Protoss in ''[[
** Then again, [[Units Not to Scale|since a motorbike is longer than a fighter, and a tank is about half as long as a battlecruiser in-game]], [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality|we should really not judge sizes by the unit models]].
** For ''[[Star Craft 2]]'' the Terrans were going to have an upgrade for the Starport called the [http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Star_base#StarCraft_II Starbase], which was basically a permanently flying Starport that could still create all their air units. Sadly, the building was cut from the final build of the game.
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* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', Baron Wulfenbach has a fleet of dirigible fortresses and assorted lighter-than-air craft as his mobile base of operations, including the enormous Castle Wulfenbach. Also, most airships have escape pods that are themselves miniature airships.
** Castle Wulfenbach is so large it's practically an Airborne
* Some were seen in ''[[Alpha Shade]]''.
* In one of ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' cross-dimension stories, humans have some of those, as seen [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/070608 here]. Their usage is justified because the "zombies" cannot fly and staying in the air or space is the only real safe point to be, along with sheer practicality of a mobile base.
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* The USAF was experimenting with using parasite fighters, the XF-85, to provide fighter escort to B-36 bombers. Eventually, this plan was scrapped as the increased range of jet fighters coupled with in flight refueling allowed regular fighters to accompany the bombers throughout their missions, in addition to the fact that the XF-85 was outperformed by conventional fighters.
** [[wikipedia:FICON project|FICON (FIghter CONveyor) Project]]: Putting an F-84 fighter inside the bomb bay of a B-36 and using the former to deliver a tactical nuke. Got a few flights in before the U-2 came along and the B-36 became obsolete. Determined to be an idea that worked better in theory than in practice.
* The Soviets also conducted their own experiments in the 1930s called the [[wikipedia:Zveno project|Zveno Project]]. Tupolev bombers would carry little Polikarpov fighters aloft, the most ambitious version actually carrying five fighters at the same time. The final version Zveno-SPB had a pair of [https://web.archive.org/web/20140703085610/http://www.wwiivehicles.com/ussr/aircraft/fighter/polikarpov-i-16.asp I-16] rolled under the wings of [
** You can fly the Zveno aircraft cluster in ''[[Il-2 Sturmovik]]''.
* And a relatively more mundane example, many of the early X Planes (the experimental rocket and jet planes that paved the way for supersonic flight and manned spaceflight for the Americans in the Cold War) were carried aloft by carrier planes such as the B-52 Stratofortress, and launched in mid-air. They landed on the ground, however.
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[[Category:Tropes On a Plane]]
[[Category:Flying Tropes]]
[[Category:
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