- Yes
- No
USS Macon flying over New York City in 1933.
Ever since I’ve played airship in the WWI event, I became convinced that they deserve a permanent place in War Thunder, since military airship are some of the least represented type of military vehicles.
This time, I would like to suggest the addition of the Akron-class “flying aircraft carrier” airship, specifically the USS Macon (ZRS-5), into the game, mainly due to its uniqueness as one of the only few operational example of the “flying aircraft carrier” concept.
Key Characteristics
- 239-meters long giant airship; the second largest after the Hindenburg and the largest military aircraft ever built.
- Filled with non-flammable helium, giving it extraordinary durability against incoming gunfire.
- Very fast for its type at 140 km/h, but is still slower than most planes.
- Comes with five Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk fighters that can be launched and recovered.
- Admittedly has very low ground support capabilities, but can be used as a “mothership” to deploy fighters to intercept the enemy at high altitudes
History
Spoiler
The Macon during construction.
The Macon was the second and the last of the Akron-class airships built for the US Navy by Goodyear-Zeppelin, a joint venture between the Goodyear and Zeppelin company for the dirigible programs of the United States at that time.
The idea of operating an airship was long considered by the US Navy at the end of World War I, despite multiple setbacks such as the loss of the USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) and the ZR-2 (R38). The new military airship, the largest at that time, was to be the so-called “eyes of the navy” by perform scouting over enemy fleets at high altitude, while the accompanied parasite fighters were deployed to either protect the mothership or to perform scouting as well, further extending the detection range.
After being ordered by the USN in 1928, Macon’s construction started a year later, and she was completed and launched on 8 August 1931.
Macon emerging from the hangar at Moffett field, California.
As with the other US airships, the Macon is helium-filled ship. The usage of non-flammable gas resulted into significant improvements in survivability. In addition, the Macon has two separate control rooms, one at the front, and one at the tail of the ship served as a backup.
Compared to the sister ship, the USS Akron (ZRS-4), the Macon features several design improvements, most notably eliminating the design defect that reduced the aircraft capacity to three instead of the intended complement of five, as well as replacing the two-bladed wooden propellers with a three-bladed metal one, improving the airship’s speed and fuel efficiency.
The F9C-2 Sparrowhawk on the Macon’s trapeze hook.
Drawings of the Macon and its hangar layout.
As with the Akron, Macon’s most notable feature is its capabilities to store and launch five Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk light fighters. Originally developed as a carrier-borne fighter, the F9C was re-purposed into a parasite fighters to be used both as an extra “eyes” for the Macon, as well as to defend the airship itself.
After entering service in April 1933 (a few weeks after the sister ship Akron crashed), the Macon would participate in various exercises, during which the main flaw of the “scouting airship” concept became apparent; the Macon is simply too huge to hide, and therefore a decision was made to use the F9C purely as a scout, while leaving the Macon for the task of deployment and extraction.
To prove the scouting capabilities of the Macon, the commander of the Macon, Lieutenant Commander Herbert V. Wiley, took on an unauthorized high-profile demonstration involving tracking down President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the trip to Hawaii on board the USS Houston (CA-30) on top secret route in June 1934. Using the F9C to perform scouting, Macon spotted the Houston on 19 July and delivered newspapers and magazine for the president. The incident caused a stir within the US Navy’s high commands, however president Roosevelt was impressed and no action was taken on Macon’s crews for this stunt.
Artist impression of the crash of the Macon in 1935.
Seven months after the incident, the Macon crashed in a storm off the coast of Point Sur, California on 12 February 1935 due to structural failure caused by unrepaired damage during an incident on April 1934. Due to lesson learned from the earlier crash of the Akron, the crews was issued with life jackets, resulting in only 2 losses and 64 survivors. After the crash of Macon, as well as the subsequent Hindenburg disasters, opinions on airship in the US soured, resulting in the end of the US Navy airship program.
Specifications
Spoiler
- Length: 239.3 m (785 ft)
- Diameter (max.): 40.5 m (132 ft 9 in)
- Gas volume: 6,500,000 ft³ (184,059.5 m³) of helium, 95% inflated
- Number of gas cells: 12
- Number of gondolas: 1 + 1 emergency control room at the tail
- Number of propellers: 8 x Three-bladed metal propellers
- Number of crew members: 60 + 5 pilots for the F9C-2
- Max speed: 128 km/h (79)
- Range: 11,000 km (6,840 mi)
- Max altitude: 7,925 m (26,000 ft)
- Empty weight: 120,000 kg (264,554 lb)
- Engines: 8 x Maybach VL-2 12-cyl water-cooled inline engines of 560 hp each. Total: 4,480 hp
- Defensive armaments: 8 x .30-cal Browning machine guns in nose, dorsal, ventral, and tail positions
- Suspended armaments: 5 x Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk fighters
Extra images
Usage in-game
Spoiler
Painting of the Macon above the US Navy fleet, circa 1934.
Although usually viewed as fragile, airships can be proven to be just as hardy as regular airplanes if not pushed too far. The crash of the Macon (and Akron and Shenandoah to an extent) were caused by being pushed to fly into the storm, an ill-suited environment for operating airships. In Macon’s case, this is further exacerbated by the decision not to repair the structural damage it suffered during one such flyby through the storm.
Given that the Macon is filled with non-flammable helium, it is capable of taking huge amounts of damage from machine guns and low-caliber autocannons, something that hydrogen-filled ship wouldn’t be able to. The addition of backup control room at the tail can made “pilot snipe” even harder to perform. Though due to the vast size, the Macon can be destroyed by the WWI tactics of dropping bombs over its hull.
Although the Macon almost lacks the close air support capabilities, the ability to deploy up to five aircrafts at high altitude will help the player in taking on more advanced fighters, even though the F9C-2 itself is quite antiquated. For launching and recovering, I imagined that it would be similar to the current scout plane mechanics in naval battles, where players can launch an aircraft that can be controlled to perform various objective, and switch back to the main vehicle when needed.
Of course, there will be some complications on how to calculate the reward for shooting down the fighters deployed by the Macon, as well as the problem of using them as “kamikaze”, but I think the current system used on naval battles where downed scout planes are counted towards the “air target” section can be implemented, as well as giving players who chose to use them as “kamikaze” much lower rewards in doing so.
Overall, I think the Macon would make a unique addition into the game as some sort of “mothership interceptor” in War Thunder. Deploying aircrafts to take on enemy planes at lower altitudes and extract the deployed planes back when they ran out of ammo or damaged.
Sources
Spoiler
Akron-class airship - Wikipedia
https://web.archive.org/web/20150119173442/http://www.avia-it.com/act/biblioteca/libri/PDF_Libri_By_Naval_Aviation_Publications/Kite%20Balloons%20to%20Airships%20-%20the%20Navy’s%20Lighter-than-Air%20Experience.pdf
Rigid Airships Photo Index: USS MACON (ZRS-5)
Akron-class airship - Wikipedia
USS Macon (ZRS-5) - Wikipedia
USN Aircraft--USS Macon (ZRS-5), airship 1933-1935
Robinson, Douglas H. & Keller, Charles L. (1982). “Up Ship!”: U.S. Navy Rigid Airships 1919–1935. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-738-0.
Robinson, Douglas H. (1973). Giants in the Sky. Henley-on-Thames: Foulis. ISBN 0-85429-145-8.
Smith, Richard K (1965). The Airships Akron & Macon (Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy). Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute.
Related suggestion
I recommended reading this suggestion for the Curtiss F9C-2 for the specification and history of the aircraft that would accompany the Macon.
