Around-the-world plane tested
By Leonard David
SPACE.com
(SPACE.com) -- From the folks working hard on passenger space flight comes a new single-piloted aircraft to circle the Earth on one tank of gas.
Scaled Composites flew for the first time on March 5 the Virgin GlobalFlyer over the Mojave Desert in California.
The maiden mission kicks-off a series of test flights that should culminate in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe with a single pilot, non-stop, and non-refueled.
The company is also flight testing SpaceShipOne -- a candidate vehicle being test flown to snag the $10 million X Prize purse created to stimulate passenger-carrying suborbital rocketry.
SpaceShipOne's last flight -- the eighth in a series of shakeout trips -- took place December 17 of last year. The vehicle used its hybrid rocket motor on the first of a sequence of expected powered flights, breaking the sound barrier in the process.
Excellent flying qualities The Virgin GlobalFlyer - also tagged as Scaled Composites Model 311 -- was piloted by Project Engineer and Test Pilot Jon Karkow. The test hop lasted one hour and thirty minutes.
After liftoff, the aircraft conducted stability tests and other flight parameters. The craft's tricycle landing gear was retracted and extended and the effectiveness of the airplane's descent and landing drag chutes was evaluated.
Karkow reported that the airplane had "excellent flying qualities", a Scaled Composites press released stated. All aircraft systems operated well and the aircraft returned with no maintenance squawks.
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