One weird plane towing another. Must have been quite a sight. Wasn't the Gigant originally a glider, to which engines were grafted as an afterthought. I've seen some original photos in WWII German soldiers' photo albums. A tempting target for any Allied fighter pilot. Grafted planes, towed planes, parasite fighters, all failures, but that doesn't stop designers from playing with the ideas.

Before "Operation Sealion" was to commence there was a armed glider competition between Focke-Wulf, Heinkel, Junkers, and Messerschmitt. Only Junkers got the initial approval for its wooden Ju-322 Mammut (Mammoth) glider and 2 were built (with 98 under construction) before the 322 were scrapped in 1941. However, Messerschmitt's project of tubular steel and fabric then became active for use in the MTO and Russia. The plane started out as the Me-321 glider, but the need for power was so great to lift the 22 ton cargo that captured French Gnome Rhone 14N engines of 1140 hp x6 were used... and tugs and RATO units STILL had to push-n-pull it into the air! The tugs were either 3x Me Bf 110s, a single Ju-290, or a single He-111Z. The Me-323 Gigant was slow at between 99-177 mph (depending on the load) and had a low ceiling of only 13,200 ft! That made it easy prey in N Africa for Spits and Beaufighters. It had 11 defensive guns manned by the troops but it was barn-sized and sluggish. Add cargo of ammo and fuel for the Afrika Korps, and they went up easily. But on the Eastern Front where Germany maintained air superiority through most of the war, the Me-323 was very useful. The experiment with the 17.7 ton bomb, however, was unusual as no German conventional bomber could carry it and neither could a Lanc or a B-29!!!

Patrick, funny that you mention the parasite fighters. That started in WW1 with Zeppelin schemes that led to 1920s Brit airship tests and then on to 1930s Russian Zveno (nest) use with a TB-3 bomber carrying 2-5 aircraft! The 2 parasite version was designated SPB-1 and was actually used in the Crimea in 1941 against a bridge. The fighters were Il-16s, each with two bombs under the wings! Postwar, the B-36 carried the RF-84K Thunderflash for extended recon and later the prototype XF-88 Goblin was tested for escort fighter duty. Only 1 test and out of the bay of a B-29. Was a failure of limited capabilities. The pilot had to be no more than 5' 8" and under 200 lbs!!! In WW2, it was reversed- the upper fighter component flew the bomber also and dropped it, guiding it to the target! Daimler-Benz had huge carrier bombers with parasites planned but they never materialized. Virgin Galactic borrows from those concepts.