385 Feet Wingspan — Now That's a Big Plane!

8 comments

Rate

SolarEagle Guru Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: by the beach in Florida Posts: 33392 Good Answers: 1817	385 Feet Wingspan — Now That's a Big Plane! 09/21/2017 9:13 PM
	..."The biggest airplane in the world by wingspan (385 feet, enough to reach through both goalposts on a football field with length to spare) just took another step toward first flight. Stratolaunch has completed the first phase of engine testing. For the first time, the gargantuan plane started its six Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines. The Stratolaunch megaplane, built by Scaled Composites for Paul Allen's aerospace company Stratolaunch Systems and unveiled in May, is an enormous twin-fuselage aircraft designed to carry rockets up to altitude and drop them. The rockets will then ignite and carry satellites the rest of the way to orbit. It's a novel way of launching payloads to space that saves fuel by bringing the rocket up to high altitude before launch. Rival Virgin Galactic is working on a similar launch system, though Richard Branson's rocket-carrying aircraft is a modified 747."... http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/news/a28283/behemoth-stratolaunch-aircraft-fires-up-six-engines-first-time/ How much fuel will this save, how much cheaper will it be to put a satellite in orbit?? __________________ All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
	Register to Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!

James Stewart Guru Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Lubbock, Texas Posts: 14331 Good Answers: 162	#1 Re: 385 Feet Wingspan--Now That's a Big Plane! 09/22/2017 11:27 AM
	Hooooweee! Step back and let those big dogs eat! I like this. It reminds somewhat of some other twin boom planes I heard of, but that wingspan is clearly meant for high altitude and speed. The plan-form is somewhat reminiscent of the German Ta-152h high altitude fighter of WWII infamy. Of course, this one is far more advanced and it is not a propeller plane. Now, that, is a rocket-launching son of a gun. Stability and lift at high altitude is what makes this design so attractive to me. __________________ If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just build a better one.
	Register to Reply

Rixter Guru Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: About 4000 miles from the center of the earth (+/-100 mi) Posts: 9915 Good Answers: 1141	#2 Re: 385 Feet Wingspan--Now That's a Big Plane! 09/22/2017 12:31 PM
	It looks good. I don't have any numbers but it's got to be more efficient to lift a payload by flying it up to altitude rather than boosting it up with a rocket.
	Register to Reply

James Stewart Guru Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Lubbock, Texas Posts: 14331 Good Answers: 162	#3 In reply to #2 Re: 385 Feet Wingspan--Now That's a Big Plane! 09/22/2017 12:37 PM
	Way more, in the sense that the primary launch vehicle is totally reusable, and lands unprecariously, on a standard runway. Maybe the only limiter is the tonnage to orbit, but I am not sure. If things can recycle as fast as I think, this is only a minor inconvenience to setting up larger missions. __________________ If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just build a better one.
	Register to Reply Score 1 for Good Answer

Rixter Guru Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: About 4000 miles from the center of the earth (+/-100 mi) Posts: 9915 Good Answers: 1141	#5 In reply to #3 Re: 385 Feet Wingspan--Now That's a Big Plane! 09/22/2017 8:30 PM
	If you could launch a winged rocket from the stratolauncher that could survive reentry, you could have a completely reusable system. Perhaps that is too much to ask for.
	Register to Reply

SolarEagle Guru Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: by the beach in Florida Posts: 33392 Good Answers: 1817	#4 Re: 385 Feet Wingspan — Now That's a Big Plane! 09/22/2017 5:37 PM
	__________________ All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
	Register to Reply

tonyhemet Guru Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Hemet, Land of milk and honey. Posts: 2365 Good Answers: 36	#6 Re: 385 Feet Wingspan — Now That's a Big Plane! 09/23/2017 4:51 PM
	" How much fuel will this save, how much cheaper will it be to put a satellite into orbit ? " That is the $ 64,000 question ? Answer : Until the thing is test flighted & all the bugs get worked out, nobody really knows fer sure. Of course somebody has crunched the numbers and such. What would happen if the thing flew and a rocket was dropped, then blew up, why the plane would be wasted, not to mention all of the flaming debris dropping down on persons and property unknown and the lawsuit's would make the Hindenburg disaster look like child's play.
	Register to Reply

James Stewart Guru Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Lubbock, Texas Posts: 14331 Good Answers: 162	#7 In reply to #6 Re: 385 Feet Wingspan — Now That's a Big Plane! 09/25/2017 11:07 AM
	What if a giant hole opened up, and swallowed the entire thing on the runway? I think they need to perfect this design, then work on making the rocket daughter craft reusable (winged landing as well). __________________ If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just build a better one.
	Register to Reply

tonyhemet Guru Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Hemet, Land of milk and honey. Posts: 2365 Good Answers: 36	#8 In reply to #7 Re: 385 Feet Wingspan — Now That's a Big Plane! 09/25/2017 11:29 AM
	Hole ? as in sinkhole ? Yes, it has happened in Dallas, SFO, La Guardia, Monroe, not to mention the corvette museum & the guys bedroom in Florida.
	Register to Reply

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!

Copy to Clipboard

	Got Something to Say?
	Ask a Question Start a Discussion

	Aerospace
	BioMech & BioMed
	Chemical & Material Science
	Civil Engineering
	Communications & Electronics
	Education and Engineering Careers
	Electrical Engineering
	General Discussion
	Instrumentation
	Manufacturing
	Mechanical Engineering
	New Technologies & Research
	Software & Programming
	Sustainable Engineering
	Transportation

	Site Directories
	Forum Directory Blog Directory User Group Directory RSS Feeds CR4 Rules of Conduct CR4 FAQ Site Glossary Who's Online (80 right now) Show Members