Scaled Composites Model 348 – Fotografije & Video posnetki

V Merilni kompositi Model 348 White Knight Two (WK2) is a quadjet cargo aircraft that is used to lift the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft to release altitude. It was developed by Scaled Composites from 2007 to 2010 as the first stage of Tier 1b, a two-stage to suborbital-space manned launch system. WK2 is based on the successful mothership to SpaceShipOne, White Knight, which itself is based on Proteus. With an “open architecture” design and explicit plans for multi-purpose use, the aircraft could also operate as a zero-g aircraft for passenger training or microgravity science flights, handle missions in high-altitude testing more generally, or be used to launch payloads other than SpaceShipTwo. A study of use of the aircraft as a forest fire water bomber has also been mentioned, one that would utilize a large carbon composite water tank that could be quickly replenished to make repeat runs over fires.

Vir: Merilni kompositi Model 348 na Wikipediji

Scaled Composites Model 348 je dvoletno letalo, ki ga je zasnoval in zgradil Scaled Composites, hčerinsko podjetje Northrop Grumman. Letalo naj bi služilo kot nosilec za raketni sistem Stratolaunch, katerega cilj je izstreliti orbitalne rakete z visoke nadmorske višine. Model 348 ima razpon kril 117 m( 385 ft), zaradi česar je največje letalo po razponu kril, kar jih je kdaj letelo. Napaja ga šest turbofan motorjev Pratt & Whitney PW4056, vsak proizvaja 252 kN (56.750 lbf) potiska.
Letalo lahko nosi tovor do 250.000 kg (550.000 lb) in ima največjo vzletno maso 589.670 kg (1,3 milijona lb). Model 348 je prvi let opravil 13. aprila 2019, od takrat pa je opravil več poskusnih letov, da bi ocenil svoje lastnosti delovanja in rokovanja. Letalo naj bi začelo izstreliti rakete sredi 2020. Prva stranka je Orbital ATK, ki namerava s sistemom Stratolaunch izstreliti svoje rakete Pegasus XL.