FF144-IW Airborne Carrier

Painted for the "Flying Fortress" contest at
- around 15 hrs
- pencil sketch, Photoshop.
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The story:

After the sudden worldwide temperature drop, which scientists now connect to a decline in solar activity, in some twenty years the sea level had drastically decreased, exposing vast new, previously underwater, territories, and sparkling a new wave of massive armed conflicts over the possession of those lands.
It had also made the use of aircraft carriers (indeed, most of the navy) highly impractical, since all the major straits between continents had been eliminated, leaving large fleets scattered around the world or sealed off in vast newly formed inland seas.
The military quickly responded by the development of the ASAC - air-stationed aircraft carriers, which could serve as the base of operation for jet fighters anywhere, regardless of terrain or borders, remaining stationary at high altitude, impervious to enemy forces.

The formidable FF144-IW (144-aircraft capacity, IW-interchangeable weapons and tracking systems module), named after the famous B-17 - "Flying Fortress" is considered the best of its class, and the most versatile as well.
It may seem bulky at first, but the stealth capability is dropped in favor of larger carrying capacity and long range missiles which effectively deny any direct attack on the craft.
The suspensionless magnetic rotor system holds the blades in place with the help of superconductor electromagnets and rotates them with magnetic field fluctuations, thus eliminating any friction and lowering the energy consumption, enabling the ship to stay airborne for months. Several docking bays situated in front and in rear allow simultaneous fighter launch and landing. The latter is fully automated, due to enormous speeds involved, and small tolerances (the hangar is some 5 inches wider than a fighter's wingspan).
The cylindrical top of the carrier is plated with HESC (high efficiency solar cells) which not only account for its energy consumption, but also allow to refuel the fighters with hydrogen fuel synthesized on-board, while the opening bottom doubles as a bomb/cargo compartment, which can dispense airborne infantry, parachuting vehicles, explosives, cargo* or indeed anything you wish to land on your enemies' heads.

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* e.g. a musical instrument, preferably black one with three legs and a lid.