The Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk is a light 1930s biplane fighter aircraft that was carried by the United States Navy airships USS Akron and Macon. It is an example of a parasite fighter, a small airplane
F9C Sparrowhawk
An F9C-2 captures the trapeze aboard Macon in 1933
A Sparrowhawk with its undercarriage replaced by an external fuel tank - on deployment, the aircraft, not requiring the use of the undercarriage, would have it removed and replaced with a 30 gallon fuel tank, significantly increasing the aircraft's range
USS Los Angeles was a rigid airship, designated ZR-3, which was built in 1923–1924 by the Zeppelin company in Friedrichshafen, Germany, as war reparations. She was delivered to the United States Navy
Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk
…horizon, and to provide the airship with a degree of self-defence. In the late 1920s, the US Navy began experimenting with its airships, initially using USS Los Angeles as a platform for testing the concept of the so-called parasite aircraft. The success of these tests led to the decision to build two new airships…
Los Angeles at the mooring mast on the tender USS Patoka
Cover carried on the delivery flight from Germany to Lakehurst, New Jersey, 12–15 October 1924
Zeppelin LZ-126 arriving at Lakehurst, 15 October 1924
Los Angeles (right) and Shenandoah moored in Hangar No. 1 in 1924