Nonplanar

[Eugene]

Getting back to civil aviation with this one.



This 747 derived prototype (well, the engines anyways) is specially built for air launching orbital rockets.

 

[Claire Yeon]

Scaled Composites Stratolaunch?

 

[Deric Storm]

Getting back to civil aviation with this one.

View attachment 1022

This 747 derived prototype (well, the engines anyways) is specially built for air launching orbital rockets.

Do they also say "Mine"?

 

[Eugene]

Scaled Composites Stratolaunch?

That's it!

Paul Allen's Stratolaunch Systems commissioned Scaled Composites to build their flagship orbital launch platform. Unfortunately, after Mr. Allen's death, Stratolaunch became somewhat rudderless, undergoing multiple revisions to the payload that has left us only with the mothership seen above. The current rumor mill suggests they are now owned by Lockheed Martin. However, Stratolaunch has remained tight lipped about the identity of the new owner.


This unusual configuration was a one-off design intended for air racing.

 

[Deric Storm]

No clue what it is, but it looks cool as hell

 

[Claire Yeon]

Another Scaled Composites creation, I believe - the ill-fated Pond Racer.

 

[Eugene]

Another Scaled Composites creation, I believe - the ill-fated Pond Racer.

Yes it is!

Another design from Burt Rutan's asylum for insane aeronautical engineers (AKA Scaled Composites), the Pond Racer was commissioned by Mr. Pond to serve as an alternative to the dwindling number of P-51's used for air racing today. Unfortunately the Pond Racer suffered a series of development issues, culminating in a crash in 1993 that killed pilot Rick Brickert. This was the death knell for the Pond Racer, and the design has not been revived since.



With it's stubby wings and bubble canopy, this little bird was designed from the ground up for observation.

 

[Everly]

Edgley EA-7 Optica?

 

[Jon Eckart]

Did this topic fade away?
This one was fun and informational.

 

[Lucy]

Eugene should be back eventually.