WhiteKnightTwo Flight Test Update

WhiteKnightTwo: wheels up and looking good!  Photo: VirginGalactic

 Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo, built by Scaled Composites, is well into the flight test phase now and is looking pretty sweet in the air.  This video really helps to get a feel for how graceful the airplane is in flight.

 Given the very unique nature of both the design of the airplane, and the intended task of being an airborne launch vehicle for a manned spacecraft, the testing at this point is going extremely well.

 You may have heard that test flight 4 had an interesting minor strike of the rudders on the runway.  It appears that it wasn't really a big deal, and they are fully aware of what caused the situation, and how to prevent it from happening again.  Here's the official Scaled Composites statement with details about the incident.

 Flight testing of new aircraft designs is always (as in ALWAYS!) full of unique challenges that lead to updated design.  With WK2, you'd expect nothing different.  The free flow of info today tho, tends to give us a look at details we would have rarely known about in the past.

 Here's an interesting look at the way the info about the issue surfaced from Alan Radecki at the Mojave Skies Blog (WK2 and the media).  He's got a great perspective on it all, and his blog always has tons of cool Mojave happenings to check out.

 I've found in my life that the more I try to accomplish things are difficult and challenging, the more I respect the people who make things happen.  They also become a tremendous source of encouragement as well.  Thank you!

AirPigz Podcast #1: Airfoil Designer John Roncz

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 On Saturday December 20, 2008, I had the opportunity to sit down with world famous airfoil designer John Roncz.  The 34 minute interview covers some of his extremely interesting work on Voyager and GlobalFlyer, the only two aircraft to have flown around the globe, non-stop and without refueling.

 We also cover how he came to work with Burt Rutan on many of his unique and highly efficient designs over the last 20+ years.              

 John’s extensive work has lead the way in using the power of computers to simulate wind-tunnel testing.  This has reduced both the cost and time required to achieve superior aerodynamic design.

 I hope you enjoy the first AirPigz podcast!  Please understand that I had some technical difficulties with my mic that couldn’t be fixed in post production. It's a great interview tho, and you can expect lots of improvement when podcast #2 lands soon.

 Martt from AirPigz on left, world famous airfoil designer John Roncz on right 

Voyager: first aircraft to fly around the world, non-stop and without refueling

GlobalFlyer: first aircraft to fly solo around the world, non-stop without refueling

Universe Getting Smaller As VirginMotherShip Proves Her Stuff

Photos: Alan Radecki at  http://mojaveskies.blogspot.com/
Illustration:  http://virgingalactic.com/

  Her name is Eve, she has a 140’ wingspan, and now, she flies.  On Sunday, 12-21-08, Scaled Composites' VirginMotherShip, also known as WhiteKnightTwo, became the largest all composite aircraft to fly. 

 It’s easy to misunderstand just how big this thing is by many of the pictures you see, but as can be seen in the lower pic above (from the day she was rolled out in July) this is a big airplane!  The wing main spar is all one piece too, prompting designer Burt Rutan to suggest that it’s the largest single composite aircraft structure ever made.

 However, being a big plastic airplane really isn’t the WK2’s big deal… it’s the task of dragging SpaceShipTwo up to about 50,000’ where the rocket fire will be lit and 2 pilots & 6 passengers will go for a (pricey) space ride. 

 I admit I’ve been a little slow to care about this whole private space venturing, but I’m starting to catch the cool factor here.  I’m gonna watch very closely as this project moves toward the first flights that join the SpaceShip with the Momma.  Cuz it won’t be long after that when people will trade $200,000 for the wildest roller coaster ride of their life, including about five minutes of for-real weightlessness.  The flights will reach the lower thermosphere at about 110km above the planet (the ISS orbits in the upper thermosphere at about 320km.)

 If you haven’t seen the video animation of an entire Virgin Galactic flight, check it out, it’s pretty stinkin’ cool.  But don’t just watch it, really imagine yourself looking down at earth from about 360,000'!