Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk: The US Biplane Fighter That Was Carried By Airships

Aircraft carriers don't have to float – they can also fly. The United States Navy's interwar Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk was a parasitic fighter bi-plane carried by airborne aircraft carriers. The first manned flight was not by the Wright Brothers in 1902 but was achieved by the French 120 years earlier in 1782 in a balloon. Balloons (and airships) are lighter-than-air aircraft, while the Wright brothers created the first sustained-heavier-than-air powered flight. The Sparrowhawks and their airship motherships were a (short-lived) marriage between lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft.