TC-class blimp

{{Short description|Type of blimp}}

File:T.C._Army_airship,_3-28-23_LCCN2016847412_(cropped).tif

The TC-3 and the TC-7 were the two United States Army Air Corps non-rigid blimps used for parasite fighter trials conducted in 1923–24. A single Sperry Messenger biplane was equipped with a skyhook to engage the temporary trapeze mounted to the control carriage of the blimp itself. The first successful docking was achieved on December 15, 1924.{{cite web |url=http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19580040000 |title=Verville-Sperry M-1 Messenger {{!}} National Air and Space Museum |website=airandspace.si.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523225734/http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19580040000 |archive-date=2014-05-23}} Despite the completely successful results of the program, the Army chose not to develop the concept further.[https://books.google.com/books?id=q-MDAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+mechanics+1930+aircraft&pg=PA941 "The West Point Of The Air""] Popular Mechanics, June 1930, TC class pages 941, 943 (bottom), 944[https://books.google.com/books?id=veQDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Mechanics+1931+curtiss&pg=PA412 "Wild Night In The T-C-10", September 1931, Popular Mechanics] article/photos on the TC-10, of the same class as the TC-3 It was the Navy which began the better-known project in 1925 using rigid airships, the USS Los Angeles (ZR-3), the USS Macon (ZRS-5) and the USS Akron (ZRS-4).

Scott Field in St. Clair County, Illinois, had a US Army Lighter-than-Air Base from 1921–1937 for training, including J-class blimps. In 1937, the Army Air Corps ended its airship program and transferred all its LTA material to the Navy, only two blimps were used by the Navy: TC-13 and TC-14.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scott.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2000145580/|title=TC-13 Airship, Scott Field, 1920’s|website=www.scott.af.mil}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.scott.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/1604695/17-september-1935-the-maiden-flight-of-the-final-and-most-modern-army-airship-w/|title=17 September 1935 – The Maiden Flight of the Final and Most Modern Army Airship was Conduc|date=September 17, 2018|website=Scott Air Force Base}}