Stratolaunch's Rocket Carrier, the Biggest Airplane Ever Built, Aces Fastest Runway Test Yet

[Judi Lynn]

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | October 29, 2018 05:54pm ET

- click for image -

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The biggest airplane ever built, which will tote a variety of satellite-launching rockets into the sky, just got a step closer to flight.

Stratolaunch Systems, which was established in 2011 by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, got the giant plane up to 90 mph (145 km/h) during "medium-speed taxi testing" at California's Mojave Air and Space Port earlier this month.

"Paul Allen's vision for #Stratolaunch continues to take form," company representatives said last week via Twitter, in a post that also shared video of the taxi test. [Stratolaunch Test Photos: The World's Largest Plane in Action]

Stratolaunch's dual-fuselage plane features a wingspan of 385 feet (117 meters) — greater than the length of a football field, including the two end zones. The vehicle is designed to haul satellite-carrying rockets up to an altitude of about 35,000 feet (10,700 m), at which point the launchers will drop away and power their payloads up to orbit.

More:
https://www.space.com/42281-stratolaunch-rocket-mothership-runway-test-video.html

[ZZenith]

1. Steve Jobs would have made a better-looking plane.

Would have been easier to fly, too.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. There have been many variations of this:

IF OPERATING SYSTEMS WERE AIRLINES:

DOS AIR

All the passengers go out onto the runway, grab hold of the plane,
push it until it gets in the air, hop on, jump off when it hits the
ground again. Then they grab the plane again, push it back into the
air, hop on, et cetera.

WINDOWS AIRLINES

The terminal is very neat and clean, the attendants all very
attractive and the pilots very capable. The fleet is immense. Your
jet takes off without a hitch, pushing above the clouds, and at 20,000
feet it crashes without warning.

MAC AIRWAYS

The cashiers, flight attendants, and pilots all look the same, feels
the same and act the same. When asked questions about the flight they
reply that you don't want to know, don't need to know and would you
please return to your seat and watch the movie.

OS/2 SKYWAYS

The terminal is almost empty, with only a few prospective passengers
milling about. Airline personnel walk around, apologizing profusely
to customers in hushed voices, pointing from time to time to the
sleek, powerful jets outside the terminal on the field. They tell
each passenger how good the real flight will be on these new jets and
how much safer it will be than Windows Airlines, but that they will
have to wait a little longer for the technicians to finish the flight
systems.

FLY WINDOWS NT

All the passengers carry their seats out onto the tarmac, placing the
chairs in the outline of a plane. They all sit down, flap their arms
and make jet swooshing sounds as if they are flying.

WINGS of OS/400

The airline has bought ancient DC-3s, arguable the best and safest
planes that ever flew and painted "747" on their tails to make them
look as if they are fast. The flight attendants, of course, attend
to your every need, though the drinks cost $15 a pop. Stupid
questions cost $230 per hour, unless you have SupportLine, which
requires a first class ticket and membership in the frequent flyer
club.

MVS AIRLINES

The passengers all gather in the hanger, watching hundreds of
technicians check the flight systems on this immense, luxury aircraft.
This plane has at least 10 engines and seats over 1,000 passengers.
All the passengers scramble aboard, as do the necessary complement of
200 technicians. The pilot takes his place up in the glass cockpit.
He guns the engines, only to realize that the plane is too big to get
through the hanger doors!

*** AND OUR FAVORITE: *****

UNIX EXPRESS

Each passenger brings a piece of the airplane and a box of tools to
the airport. They gather on the tarmac, arguing constantly about what
kind of plane they want to build and how to put it together.
Eventually, they build several different aircraft, but give them all
the same name. Some passengers actually reach their destinations.
All passengers believe they got there.

[ZZenith]

3. Excellent!