Airbus Patented an Aircraft to Carry Other Planes Up Above the Clouds

To improve energy efficiency, we need planes to carry other planes.

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Concept art of the Airbus Zephyr S (bottom) and Zephyr T (top), High Altitude Pseudo-Satellites (HAPS) powered by solar panels that would fly above commercial air traffic for months at a time to provide communication and surveying services.
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Flying up in the stratosphere is great. It offers thin air where planes can cruise with less drag and turbulence, which makes this layer of the atmosphere the perfect place for a light, unmanned aircraft to operate for long periods of time. But it's tough for planes to get up that high in the first place. The stratosphere starts at about 30,000 feet, and climbing that high in a plane puts large mechanical demands on the aircraft, requiring a reinforced airframe and a lot of engine power.

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Airbus recently filed a patent for a type of carrier aircraft, known as a high-altitude platform system, that could transport heavier planes with more equipment up above 60,000 feet and deposit them there. The advantage to this strategy is that the aircraft deposited by the carrier platform would not need the thrust capabilities required to reach the stratosphere on its own, allowing it to carry more science and communications payloads.

Some aerospace companies, including Airbus, are working on plans to put unmanned aircraft up in the stratosphere that would operate for months or even years on end, conducting research or offering utilities similar to satellites. Solar drones make sense for this purpose, but an aircraft powered by solar panels needs to be incredibly light to ascend up into the placid stratosphere.

Airbus's patent is fairly vague, describing multiple options for an auxiliary aircraft that could attach to the top, bottom, or sides of the primary aircraft. The design of the carrier would depend on the aircraft that is being carried, so it will likely be some time before we know how Airbus plans to move forward with these ideas.

In one of their fun and goofy videos, PatentYogi imagines the auxiliary aircraft carrying what looks like a space zeppelin up into the stratosphere and deploying it there.

This isn't an entirely new idea. Aerospace company Scaled Composites is currently developing a massive aircraft to carry SpaceX rockets up into the atmosphere where they could then launch to space after being dropped, requiring less fuel. When launching something requires a lot of fuel, the best way to make it more efficient is apparently to add another airplane.

h/t PatentYogi

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