Spaceshiptwo Has 'anomaly'

[moeman]

Trivia..............

The first B747 had sort of a "fire-pole" mounted between the flight deck and the cabin. During test flights, if there was an emergency they were to slide down the pole, put on a chute, blow the door and bail out !!!

Test pilots are pretty gutsy...............

I'd call them heroes ;-)

[conehead]

I'd call them heroes ;-)

Ha! I once knew a guy that would stall a CF-104 several times a week. He had a great job as our test pilot...

[moeman]

I used to enjoy stalling my parachute back when I was young and stupid(er) :-) Scared the bejeezus out of me every time, but the thrill was worth it. Can't imagine feeling that in an aircraft.

[Kip Powick]

I was never a "test" pilot ,but was called upon to do a few "test" flights after the T-33 came out after a total refit.

One of the inflight tests was pushing for 3.3 negative G.

On one flight , at altitude, I rolled inverted and eyes glued on 'G' Meter pushed.

A damned wrench came out from between the rudder pedals and grazed the side of my head as it headed for the canopy.

As I rolled upright the damned wrench came off the inside of the canopy and smacked the top of my oxygen mask...right on the nose.!!!

No damage to me or the aircraft and when the wrench landed on my lap, I retrieved it and once on the ground found out who was responsible for leaving the wrench........

Lots of apologies and no excuse for not doing a "tool count" prior to buttoning up the aircraft......told him he owed me a beer or two.

[Kip Powick]

I used to enjoy stalling my parachute back when I was young and stupid(er) :-) Scared the bejeezus out of me every time, but the thrill was worth it. Can't imagine feeling that in an aircraft.

It depends on what configuration each specific aircraft is in, what altitude you are at, and what speed you have when you stall as to the "feeling" one has during a stall.

Look at Air France...their stall was what we call a "falling leaf" and I would imagine the feeling was just like encountering light turbulence.

Take a "clean" (no wheels or flaps selected), CF104 and stall it and initially it was a "jackhammer" feeling and then just a slow spiral with a definite threat of going inverted. If one pulled too tight in the CF104 one would encounter "pitch-up".

Unfortunately a past student of mine who was really "gung-ho" was trying to compete with another fellow as to who could do the fastest landing pattern at Bardufuss, Norway (land...do a touch and go...and back up for another landing) when he pulled too tight and pitched up at about 1000 feet...he attempted to recover, he did not survive.

[boestar]

I was never a "test" pilot ,but was called upon to do a few "test" flights after the T-33 came out after a total refit.

One of the inflight tests was pushing for 3.3 negative G.

On one flight , at altitude, I rolled inverted and eyes glued on 'G' Meter pushed.

A damned wrench came out from between the rudder pedals and grazed the side of my head as it headed for the canopy.

As I rolled upright the damned wrench came off the inside of the canopy and smacked the top of my oxygen mask...right on the nose.!!!

No damage to me or the aircraft and when the wrench landed on my lap, I retrieved it and once on the ground found out who was responsible for leaving the wrench........

Lots of apologies and no excuse for not doing a "tool count" prior to buttoning up the aircraft......told him he owed me a beer or two.

This is what we refer to as Validation or Verification flights.

Test flights are just that TEST. The throttle jockeys are tasked with flying something that has never been off the ground and seeing if the engineers were right when they designed it and if the assemblers and ground testers were on the ball.

Now take something that has never flow and "see what she can do" That is an inherent risk that no other flying carries with it.

[conehead]

I was never a "test" pilot ,but was called upon to do a few "test" flights after the T-33 came out after a total refit.

One of the inflight tests was pushing for 3.3 negative G.

On one flight , at altitude, I rolled inverted and eyes glued on 'G' Meter pushed.

A damned wrench came out from between the rudder pedals and grazed the side of my head as it headed for the canopy.

As I rolled upright the damned wrench came off the inside of the canopy and smacked the top of my oxygen mask...right on the nose.!!!

No damage to me or the aircraft and when the wrench landed on my lap, I retrieved it and once on the ground found out who was responsible for leaving the wrench........

Lots of apologies and no excuse for not doing a "tool count" prior to buttoning up the aircraft......told him he owed me a beer or two.

This is why we learned (in the civilian world) to never etch our names on our tools.

[Seeker]

I found a better video that shows the "feathering" manoever. Skip ahead to 2:10 if you just want to see it without the leadup.

[boestar]

The feathering maneuver is designed to do what NASA tried with the lifting body design from the 60's. Remember the beginning of the 6 million Dollar Man and the crashing space craft. That design was intended as a reentry vehicle that would use the aerodynamic forces to configure for re entry. Scaled has taken it a step further and configures the craft for 2 roles by using this technique. Thats thinking outside the box.

[deicer]

When it works, it works awesome!

They just have to make it awesome every time.....

[inchman]

Sure doesn't look all that stable. Hard to know if it is just optical, but it sure seems to be pretty shaky. That is an awful large "feather" structure hanging on just a couple of hinges. If they have these shots, they must have some from the failure.

[Guest]

Virgin moving ahead with their spacecraft:

Virgin Galactic Opens New Design and Manufacturing Facility for LauncherOne
by Staff Writers
Long Beach CA (SPX) Feb 18, 2015

With a launch price aimed to be the lowest in the nation or perhaps the world, LauncherOne has already attracted the interest of numerous small satellite manufacturers and operators. Among them is the recently announced OneWeb project designed to deliver broadband services to areas of the world not currently served by terrestrial networks. This and other ambitious projects are expected keep the Long Beach facility busy for many years to come.

Virgin Galactic and Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments PJS, is pleased to announce it has leased a new 150,000 square foot facility that will house design and manufacturing of the company's small satellite launch vehicle, LauncherOne.

LauncherOne is a new two-stage orbital launch vehicle being designed by Virgin Galactic specifically to launch commercial or governmental satellites that weigh 500 pounds (225 kilograms) or less.

Much like SpaceShipTwo, the company's reusable vehicle for space tourism, LauncherOne is designed to be launched from the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft, giving customers the ability to avoid crowded and expensive launch ranges while also picking the launch location best suited for their mission. Located at the Long Beach Airport, this new facility will allow easy transportation of rockets and of customers' satellites using WhiteKnightTwo.

Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said, "The technical progress our team has made designing and testing LauncherOne has enabled a move into a dedicated facility to produce the rocket at quantity. With New Mexico's magnificent Spaceport America for our commercial spaceflight operations, our Mojave facilities for WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo production, and now our new facility in Long Beach for LauncherOne, we are building capability to serve our expanding customer community."

Virgin Galactic will be hosting a job fair and open house at the new facility on Saturday March 7. Prospective applicants looking for more information should visit virgingalactic.com in the coming days for complete job listings and for more information on the open house.

With a launch price aimed to be the lowest in the nation or perhaps the world, LauncherOne has already attracted the interest of numerous small satellite manufacturers and operators. Among them is the recently announced OneWeb project designed to deliver broadband services to areas of the world not currently served by terrestrial networks. This and other ambitious projects are expected keep the Long Beach facility busy for many years to come.

US Congressman Alan Lowenthal expressed his support regarding Virgin Galactic's move to the area, saying. "I want to welcome Virgin Galactic to Long Beach and I applaud their commitment both to the state and to Southern California. This proves again that Southern California has the tools, the skills, and the talent to push not only the bounds of technology, but in this case, the bonds of Earth itself."

"California and Los Angeles County have always been home to the true pioneers of the aerospace business," said Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia.

"We're thrilled that Long Beach attracted a tenant like Virgin Galactic, a world-renowned leader of the commercial space industry. This is one of the most exciting and dynamic businesses in the country, and they are bringing excellent jobs we need for the talented and hard-working aerospace professionals who already call Long Beach home."

"I'm extremely proud that Virgin Galactic has chosen Long Beach for its new facility and excited to welcome them to the community," said Long Beach 5th District Councilwoman Stacy Mungo. "I have great respect for our aviation history, and this innovative satellite project will bring a spotlight to Long Beach and to our partnerships for economic development."