Verdens største fly på sin 3. testflyging - Flying

 

Largest Airplane Completes First Test Flight in Eight Months

 

The third test flight for Stratolaunch’s Roc was its most productive yet.

By Thom Patterson

January 16, 2022

 

Roc landed Sunday at California’s Mojave Air & Space Port after a test flight that lasted nearly four and a half hours. [Courtesy: Stratolaunch]

Stratolaunch’s Roc—the biggest airplane in the world—returned to the sky Sunday, completing its first test flight in more than eight months.

The four-hour and 23-minute mission expanded Roc’s proven test envelope, including a higher altitude, as well as retracting and extending one of Roc’s main landing gear in flight for the first time. 

In addition to setting a Roc record for flight duration, the mission pushed its proven test envelope for altitude and speed. The behemoth reached a maximum altitude of 23,500 feet and a top speed of 180 kias, Stratolaunch said, making it Roc’s most productive test flight so far.

During previous flights, the airplane climbed to about 17,000 feet and accelerated to 165 kias. Roc was designed to fly to altitudes around 35,000 feet, reaching a top speed of 500 keas.

Sjekk video her: https://tinyurl.com/2mt4rh3r

“Today’s successful flight demonstrates and validates improvements to the carrier aircraft’s systems and overall flight performance,” Stratolaunch president and CEO Zachary Krevor said in a statement.

Eventually, owners expect the one-of-a-kind, six-engined, twin-fuselage jet to serve as a carrier to air-launch reusable hypersonic aircraft for testing and research.

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The test flight—the third in the plane’s history—was wheels up at 8:47 a.m. PT on the 12,500-foot Runway 30 at California’s Mojave Air & Space Port (KMHV). On the flight deck in the right fuselage: pilots Evan Thomas and Mark Giddings, as well as flight engineer Jake Riley.