Author Topic: Stratolaunch: General Company and Development Updates and Discussions  (Read 1020785 times)

Offline Eerie

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I second your opinion. An astonishing aircraft, but the basic concept is flawed / unuseful. But I'm quite sure such aircraft can find other uses.
Imagine a giant passenger pod with large panoramic windows. Or some big cargo pod.

It won't work as a passenger anything, too expensive and dangerous. It probably can find work stealing jobs from An-225, but if you were building a new cargo plane from scratch, you would not use the same configuration.

Offline Dao Angkan

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It might make a good firefighting aircraft.

Offline Jim

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The thing looks like the Howard Hughes "Spruce Goose" times two. The "Spruce Deuce" might be a good nickname.  ;D

Deuce Goose is better

Offline Katana

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The thing looks like the Howard Hughes "Spruce Goose" times two. The "Spruce Deuce" might be a good nickname.  ;D

Deuce Goose is better
Space Goose

Offline john smith 19

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Space Goose
But what you gonna do when if the Goose lands on you? :)
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Offline Lars-J

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The thing looks like the Howard Hughes "Spruce Goose" times two. The "Spruce Deuce" might be a good nickname.  ;D

Deuce Goose is better
Space Goose

Assuming it ever does a space launch. I’m still skeptical it will happen.

Offline CameronD

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I second your opinion. An astonishing aircraft, but the basic concept is flawed / unuseful. But I'm quite sure such aircraft can find other uses.
Imagine a giant passenger pod with large panoramic windows. Or some big cargo pod.

It won't work as a passenger anything, too expensive and dangerous. It probably can find work stealing jobs from An-225, but if you were building a new cargo plane from scratch, you would not use the same configuration.

Maybe SNC could use it for Dream Chaser drop tests??  Given the number of tests it seems they want to do before actually launching DC for real, that might keep them busy for a while..

With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine - however, this is not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are
going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly overhead.

Offline Darkseraph

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http://spacenews.com/nasa-agreement-sign-of-stratolaunch-engine-development-program/

Seems they're planning to go solo and develop their own launch vehicle. The decision to hire Jeff Thornburg who worked on the J2X and Raptor, makes sense now. The question now is what kind of launcher are they planning on? Presumably it will be an all liquid design similar to LauncherOne or the old abandoned F9Air.
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Offline GWH

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Interesting.

Perhaps it would make sense for them to pick up the remains of XCOR and any folks from there still kicking dust around Mojave. At least give them a leg up on upper stage engine development.

Offline yg1968

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It would be interesting to get more details. Might be a good future launcher for the (potential) scaled Dream Chaser variant for Stratolaunch.
« Last Edit: 11/16/2017 12:12 am by yg1968 »

Offline vaporcobra


Offline ringsider

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« Last Edit: 11/20/2017 12:29 am by ringsider »

Offline yg1968

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Video of taxi test:

Quote from: Paul Allen
Stratolaunch turned onto the Mojave Air and Space Port runway center line yesterday and successfully conducted its first taxi test. More to share soon!

https://twitter.com/PaulGAllen/status/942574809086509056
« Last Edit: 12/18/2017 01:21 am by yg1968 »

Offline M_Puckett

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The thing looks like the Howard Hughes "Spruce Goose" times two. The "Spruce Deuce" might be a good nickname.  ;D

Deuce Goose is better

Obviously, it should be the Spruce Moose:


Offline kch

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Reportedly preparing for taxi tests!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbqWYdYA8Zj/?taken-by=atcpilot_photography


And further news on what it will carry?

"Anything it wants to ..." (see sleeping arrangements of 800-pound gorillas)  ;)

Offline catdlr

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Video of taxi test:

Quote from: Paul Allen
Stratolaunch turned onto the Mojave Air and Space Port runway center line yesterday and successfully conducted its first taxi test. More to share soon!

https://twitter.com/PaulGAllen/status/942574809086509056

YouTube copy: 
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Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Scaled PR attached

Quote
Scaled Composites Taxis World’s Largest Aircraft
Stratolaunch Aircraft Moves Under Its Own Power

MOJAVE, CA, December 16, 2017:
This past weekend, the Scaled test team successfully executed a low speed taxi test of the Stratolaunch aircraft. During this initial taxi test, the aircraft moved down the runway under its own power for the first time. These first test points have demonstrated the fundamental ability to control the aircraft speed and direction on the runway.

What is it like to move the world’s largest aircraft? Joe Sweat, Project Pilot, commented, “It was a lot less intimidating once we had it out there, in terms of how much runway we take up. From a visual standpoint, we had a lot more room than I was anticipating. Getting the airplane moving under its own power was really interesting – just seeing and feeling how the nose wheel steering reacts and how the brakes respond to the inputs.[

We have been working with Stratolaunch for the past five years designing, building, and testing the world’s largest aircraft. Paul Allen’s mission for Stratolaunch is developing an air launch platform to make access to space more convenient, reliable, and routine.
“Later taxi testing will include faster speeds and more challenging steering and braking tasks, all in preparation for first flight. It was exciting to see this magnificent machine on the runway for the first time!” said Brandon Wood, Test Conductor.
« Last Edit: 12/18/2017 10:19 pm by FutureSpaceTourist »

Offline Archibald

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At the beginning of the video it looks as if the two fuselages are not attached together :p
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Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Quote
Captured new video of @Stratolaunch plane as it reached a top taxi speed of 40 knots (46 mph) with all flight surfaces in place on Sunday. The team verified control responses, building on the first taxi tests conducted in December.

https://twitter.com/PaulGAllen/status/968168785076142080

Video attached

Offline JBF

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It will be amazing to see that fly.
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