This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Airborne Aircraft Carrier: From YKTTW
Ununnilium: What series is the one with the Aeon from? It mentions it's an Independence Day homage, but...
Ununnilium:
(It's worth noting that "Air Force One" is the callsign for any Air Force aircraft carrying the President, which could include helicopters or other small aircraft belonging to the USAF. This has never been the case in real life, however.)
- Actually, that's not quite right, only fixed-wing government planes carrying the President are called Air Force One. If a helicopter is carrying the President, its call sign is Marine One. If it's a non-government plane, it's call sign is Executive One.
It's not that simple. Any US Military aircraft that carries the President is given the callsign (Service) One. Substitute service for whichever one the aircraft came from. So a USAF HH-60 Pavehawk CSAR helicopter would be Air Force One if it carried the President. Conversely, a USMC KC-130 could be Marine One. The Navy One callsign has only been used once, and Army one is now considered Defunct. Typically tohugh, Air Force One is one of the VC-25As and Marine One either a VH-3D or VH-60. [/sad git mode]
Goes waaaaaay off the point of the trope.
Later: Re-cut.
BT The P: I'm not sure starships should count on this page, because if any spacecraft that carries smaller spacecraft qualifies, then all the Enterprises, both Galacticas, most Babylon 5 ships, stout little Serenity, and the space shuttle would all be on here.
Ununnilium: I agree. Any nays?
Later: Okay, cutting anything that isn't an atmospheric craft:
- Many, if not most, battleships in Science Fiction end up being this, especially if starfighters factor significantly into the story. The most classic examples are perhaps the Star Destroyers in Star Wars, the titular ship in Battlestar Galactica (both versions), the battleships in Babylon 5, and most motherships in Stargate: SG-1 (in fact, by definition, all motherships in science fiction qualify)
- The Arcadia from Captain Harlock
- The Dai-Gunten and the Hyper Galaxy Dai-Gurren in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
...and I'm sure there's a bunch I missed due to not being familiar with the series.
Nerdorama: The Dai-Gunten actually was an atmospheric airborne aircraft carrier (it was the flagship of Cytomander, the "air" themed miniboss from the first half of the series, if you were curious), so I'll go and re-add it now, if no one minds. Hyper Galaxy Dai-Gurren though, yeah, spaceship.
Ununnilium: Works for me.
Space Ace: Edited the Zveno entry (Soviet Project), as it was far more succesful than the original troper said.
Haibane: As an aircraft carrier allows for sustained operation of aircraft (take off, landing, storage and maintenance) I would discount entries like the X-planes because the mother plane is simply used to drop the plane at altitude and has no facilities for recovering and servicing the aircraft after its mission.
SenatorJ: The Nomad from Metal Gear Solid 4 carries around a helicopter, although it probably doesn't launch it in flight. Does that count?
Does the city of Laputa from Castleinthe Sky count? It has a large death cannon and the robots on it fly. It's not a floating continent, persay, but it's not strictly an airborne aircraft carrier either.
