It's a bit like having a very small first stage that gets you out of the thickest air, with a little speed and altitude. The Falcon 9, by comparison, uses the

It's a bit like having a very small first stage that gets you out of the thickest air, with a little speed and altitude. The Falcon 9, by comparison, uses the first stage to get many times higher, but spends a huge amount of it's fuel during that first part of takeoff. For smaller launches, the plane-drop seems a much better idea.