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World's largest plane successfully completes maiden flight
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IANS | 15 Apr, 2019
The world's largest aircraft, developed by aerospace venture Stratolaunch, completed its first flight test on Saturday.
With
a dual fuselage design and wingspan greater than the length of an
American football field, the airplane took off from Mojave Air and Space
Port in California at 6:58 am (Pacific Time), said Stratolaunch in a
statement, Xinhua reported.
Achieving a maximum speed of 189
miles (302.4 km) per hour, the plane flew for 2.5 hours over the Mojave
Desert at altitudes up to 17,000 feet.
As part of the initial
flight, the pilots evaluated aircraft performance and handling qualities
before landing successfully back at the Mojave Air and Space Port,
according to the company's statement.
"What a fantastic first flight," said Jean Floyd, CEO of Stratolaunch.
"Today's
flight furthers our mission to provide a flexible alternative to ground
launched systems. We are incredibly proud of the Stratolaunch team,
today's flight crew, our partners at Northrup Grumman's Scaled
Composites and the Mojave Air and Space Port," he added.
Regarding
initial results from Saturday's test flight, Stratolaunch said the test
team performed a variety of flight control maneuvers to calibrate speed
and test flight control systems, including roll doublets, yawing
maneuvers, pushovers and pull-ups, and steady heading side slips.
Moreover, it conducted simulated landing approach exercises at a max altitude of 15,000 feet mean sea level.
Stratolaunch
was founded by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2011 to
develop the large carrier airplane as a flying launch pad for
orbital-class rockets.
The aircraft has a world-record wingspan
of 385 feet, and is 238 feet long. It is wider than any airplane on the
planet. It weighs half a million pounds, according to a CNN report.
"A
historic milestone for the #Stratolaunch team with this record setting
aircraft taking flight! This is about going to the edge of space and
beyond!" tweeted Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA
Science Mission Directorate.
"I only wish the late @PaulGAllen could see this - his memory and impact lives on," he tweeted.
Dozens
of photographers, industry bloggers and aerospace enthusiasts gathered
this week to glimpse the unique twin-fuselage plane.
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