SpaceShipThree Mothership Question: Remove double cockpit?

[darkenfast]

If Virigin Galactic decides to create a variant of SpaceShipThree with a seating capacity of 12 people, a improved version of the RocketMotorTwo with greater fuel capacity and higher specific impulse, and a service ceiling of 420,000 feet, and WhiteKnightTwo were not heavy enough to carry an improved SS3, Virgin Galactic could team up with Boeing to retrieve a mothballed B-52 Stratofortress from the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, modify it to accommodate a space launch crew and an underwing pylon for SS3, and strip it of excess military equipment to allow it to reach 70,000 feet. Afterwards, the heavily modified B-52 would be operated by Virgin Galactic for use as a launch platform for an enlarged SpaceShipThree variant.

Your numbers appear to be all imaginary. I seriously doubt that a newer B-52 (let alone one from the boneyard) could carry that weight on an X-15 pylon. Going from 6+2 (passengers plus crew in Space Ship Two) to 12 people requires a big increase in volume and payload capacity, which means a big increase in weight. Scaling from Space Ship One to Space Ship Two caused a lot of problems and this would cause more, especially because the higher altitude you want will require more speed and more loads on re-entry. Your improved propulsion system would have to be a LOT bigger and heavier and you aren't going to get improved ISP without designing and building a whole new engine using a different fuel and oxidizer. A "stripped" B-52 won't even come close to 70,000 feet. The plane that carried the X-15 could carry a maximum of about 50,000 pounds and dropped it at around 45,000 feet. Finally, the B-52 is a military aircraft that is still in service. I would expect that the odds of the government allowing VG to operate a B-52 are slim-to-none. 

[Vahe231991]

With the most recent flight of the SpaceShipTwo vehicle USS Unity this week, my expectation is that Virgin Galactic will use WhiteKnightTwo as the mothership for SpaceShipThree because SS3 is a SpaceShipTwo derivative wih improved maintenance and flight rate performance.