Six-engined giant takes to sky in test flight
A giant six-engine aircraft with the world’s longest wingspan completed what company officials called a superb initial flight over California’s Mojave Desert, bringing to life a dream held by the late Microsoft cofounder Paul G. Allen.
Stratolaunch Systems Corp. chief executive Jean Floyd said yesterday the aircraft made a ‘‘spectacular’’ landing that was on the mark. Stratolaunch, which was founded by Allen, is vying to be a contender in the market for air-launching small satellites. He died in October.
‘‘It was an emotional moment for me, to personally watch this majestic bird take flight, to see Paul Allen’s dream come to life in front of my very eyes,’’ Floyd told a teleconference briefing.
Floyd said that as the plane lifted off, ‘‘I did whisper a thank you to Paul for allowing me to be part of this remarkable achievement.’’
The behemoth, twinfuselage Stratolaunch jet lifted off from Mojave Air and Space Port shortly before 7am local time and climbed into the desert sky
112km north of Los Angeles. The jet flew 2 hours, achieving a maximum speed of
304kmh and altitudes up to
5181m, the company said. Test pilot Evan Thomas of Scaled Composites LLC, which built the aircraft, said the flight overall was ‘‘fantastic’’ and for the most part the plane flew as predicted.
‘‘The airplane very nicely, smoothly rotated and really just lifted off the ground,’’ he said. ‘‘It definitely was ready to fly and wanted to fly and climbed out quickly.’’
Thomas said there were ‘‘a few little things that were off-nominal but really for a first flight it was spot-on.’’
The aircraft is designed to carry as many as three satellite-laden rockets at a time under the centre of its enormous wing, which stretches 117m – a longer wingspan than any other aircraft.
At an altitude of 10,668m, the rockets would be released, ignite their engines and soar into space.Powered by the same type of engines used by Boeing 747s, the aircraft is designed to take off at a maximum weight of
589,676kg. Its twin fuselages – the airplane equivalent of a catamaran – are 72.5m long.
The previous wingspan leader was Howard Hughes’ World War II-era eightengine H-4 Hercules flying boat – nicknamed the Spruce Goose.
Surviving in an aviation museum, it has an approximately 97.5m wingspan but is just under
67m long.
While Stratolaunch calls its aircraft the world’s largest, other airplanes exceed it in length from nose to tail.
They include the sixengine Antonov AN 225 cargo plane, which is 84m long, and the Boeing 747-8, which is just over 76.3m long. –AP