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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:08:47 PM EST
Paul Allen’s monstrous Stratolaunch airplane finally rolled out of its hangar in Mojave, Calif., Wednesday, showing off its complete twin-hulled majesty for the first time.
It will now spend many months on ground tests ahead of a first flight. And it’s not expected to be used to launch a rocket into space — mission that some observers are skeptical will ever make business sense — any sooner than 2019. It's an ugly beast. 
http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/allens-colossal-stratolaunch-plane-emerges-from-its-lair/ |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:16:22 PM EST
[#1]
Eeeewwwwww!!! That's s a freakingly ugly albatross!!!!...
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:19:02 PM EST
[#2]
Sweet!
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:20:57 PM EST
[#3]
that does not look structurally sound...
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:21:26 PM EST
[#4]
Spruce Goose 2.0
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:22:11 PM EST
[#5]
Nice
We're seeing a slow-paced version of the early days of aviation. Companies trying to make it into space for fun and profit... expect a lot of failures but a revolution in the end. |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:22:33 PM EST
[#6]
That's the stupidest thing I've seen today
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:23:21 PM EST
[#7]
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:23:34 PM EST
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
that does not look structurally sound... |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:24:41 PM EST
[#9]
Since i duped I'll add my post here
 Attached File Attached FileThe gargantuan Stratolaunch carrier aircraft, built by Scaled Composites and nicknamed the "Roc," has the longest wingspan of any aircraft ever built: 385 feet from tip to tip. The six-engine mothership is designed to carry rockets between its two fuselages. Once at altitude, the mega-plane will drop the launch vehicle, which will then fire its boosters and launch to space from the air.  Failed To Load Title |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:25:53 PM EST
[#10]
looks like 2 queer planes holding hands as they fly.....
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:26:05 PM EST
[#11]
It would barely fit in a baseball stadium.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:26:07 PM EST
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Nice
We're seeing a slow-paced version of the early days of aviation. Companies trying to make it into space for fun and profit... expect a lot of failures but a revolution in the end. |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:27:13 PM EST
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
And I bet we are going to wind up with a lot of movies of shit blowing up/falling apart/failing to fly, much like the early days of aviation. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Nice
We're seeing a slow-paced version of the early days of aviation. Companies trying to make it into space for fun and profit... expect a lot of failures but a revolution in the end. |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:27:14 PM EST
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Pretty much what I was just thinking. The center of that wing better be a whole lot stronger than it looks...or that thing is going to fall apart if it ever gets rough up there. ETA: Why is it that the cockpit/nose sections of those planes look familiar? Almost like they were scabbed off another airframe or something. |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:27:19 PM EST
[#15]
You doubters make me ill.
You think Paul Allen doesn't know how to properly simulate an aircraft design? How to test it for structural integrity under aerodynamic forces?
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:27:54 PM EST
[#16]
Dang, I never heard of this until now. That's a big bitch.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:30:10 PM EST
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
You doubters make me ill. You think Paul Allen doesn't know how to properly simulate an aircraft design? How to test it for structural integrity under aerodynamic forces? |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:30:31 PM EST
[#18]
Reminds me of the He-111z.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:30:56 PM EST
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Dang, I never heard of this until now. That's a big bitch. 
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:30:57 PM EST
[#20]
Simulations are not real. Real operating conditions are all that count.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:32:05 PM EST
[#21]
I bet that it works great until the tails decide to go in different directions.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:32:16 PM EST
[#22]
Love it! Looks totally like something out of Gerry Anderson's "Thunderbirds"
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:33:22 PM EST
[#23]
Quote Historylike synchronized swimming
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:33:32 PM EST
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Simulations are not real. Real operating conditions are all that count. |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:33:42 PM EST
[#25]
Quote HistoryLOL just was going to post that.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:33:48 PM EST
[#26]
Two initial observations:
1. That has to be weird having two cockpits where you cannot get from one to the other. 2. I don't see how that thing is not going to break apart at the center? No way the aerodynamic forces are not going to sever that thing. |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:34:41 PM EST
[#27]
so, you gotta wing walk from one side to the other in flight? are there 1.5 other ones and do they come together to form a super lion bot
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:38:04 PM EST
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Love it! Looks totally like something out of Gerry Anderson's "Thunderbirds" |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:38:05 PM EST
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
And I bet we are going to wind up with a lot of movies of shit blowing up/falling apart/failing to fly, much like the early days of aviation. Nothing is going to come from this, and it for sure won't be a revolutionary move..... |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:42:29 PM EST
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
that does not look structurally sound... 
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:42:43 PM EST
[#31]
that's an odd bird.
If they whole goal was to launch a rocket from the plane, why not strap it to the top, carrying it all the way up there, and then go inverted and drop the rocket to take off? |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:45:04 PM EST
[#32]
No leading edges and looks 80% assembled. I'd fly or fly in lots of stuff, including Russian airframe, but not in that thing.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:45:05 PM EST
[#33]
... mildly surprised those horizontals weren't designed as a single empennage
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:45:33 PM EST
[#34]
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:46:09 PM EST
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Spruce Goose 2.0 |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:47:02 PM EST
[#36]
Looks like it will eventually break into two planes .
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:48:38 PM EST
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
that does not look structurally sound... |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:48:46 PM EST
[#38]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Not an aeronautical engineer but that shit don't look right to me. ETA: Why is it that the cockpit/nose sections of those planes look familiar? Almost like they were scabbed off another airframe or something. Lots of B747 parts in that aircraft, apparently 2 were scavenged for the engines, undercarriage, avionics and a bunch of other stuff. Not a new concept either, just take a look at Scaled Composites White Knight. |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:49:28 PM EST
[#39]
40 years after the Conroy Virtus was proposed. For scale,those would have been 2 B-52 fuselages.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:50:54 PM EST
[#40]
 With the load in the middle.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:51:07 PM EST
[#41]
I think it looks great. I can't wait to see how this develops.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:52:37 PM EST
[#42]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
ETA: Why is it that the cockpit/nose sections of those planes look familiar? Almost like they were scabbed off another airframe or something. |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:53:40 PM EST
[#43]
That's awesome!
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:54:03 PM EST
[#44]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
that does not look structurally sound... |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:54:51 PM EST
[#45]
Quoted:
I bet that it works great until the tails decide to go in different directions. Not having the tails connected makes it look like it lacks rigidity in the structure. I wonder if the system is designed to be a little floppy and there is an active control system to keep it square enough under asymmetric loading. Otherwise that wing and the connection to the fuselage is going to have to beefy in order to keep everything pointed in the right direction. |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:54:54 PM EST
[#46]
It's gonna break in half
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:55:57 PM EST
[#47]
Looks like a B1 mated with a 747 and had a retarded conjoined kid.
I wonder how thick that center section is, and if it's honeycomb construction or something similar |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:57:50 PM EST
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Looks like it will eventually break into two planes . |
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:58:22 PM EST
[#49]
It's designed and built by Scaled Composites - aka Burt Rutan. I'd put my ass in ANY airplane he's designed and not worry about it. This is just big brother to Boomerang and White Knight 2.
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Posted: 5/31/2017 7:59:39 PM EST
[#50]
One wing low landing and that thing will snap like a twig.
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