On April 13, 2019, the world’s largest airplane (larger than the Spruce Goose 😱) had its maiden flight from the Mojave Air and Space Port. Joe and I drove all the way to Mojave to see it fly because he was an engineer on this project several years ago and played a part in making this feat a reality. It was wonderful seeing friends we haven’t seen in a while, and witnessing history being made first-hand.
Roc took off at about 6:58am, appearing from behind some buildings, much to the excitement and awe of the crowd that came to watch the first flight. It flew for a couple of hours, while the crew performed tests to gain confidence in the aircraft handling qualities. The pilots did a low pass over the airport before coming in for the landing. The plane touched down out of our view, but continued traveling on the runway into our view before coming to a stop. Tugs were used to push the aircraft back to the hangar. It appeared to us spectators that for the most part, everything went as planned. Joe and I are so grateful we got to see Roc’s first flight.
A little bit about the aircraft...
Roc/Stratolaunch has two fuselages and two cockpits, but is flown from the right fuselage. Its wingspan is 385 ft and it weighs 500,000 lbs empty.
Burt Rutan, the founder of Scaled Composites, partnered with Paul Allen, the founder of Stratolaunch Systems, to make this project a reality. The purpose of the Stratolaunch aircraft is to carry rockets that take off from the plane itself, allowing there to be less stringent launch criteria than a rocket launching from the ground. Early on, SpaceX planned to use Stratolaunch to launch their Falcon 9 Air rocket, but that never came to fruition.
As of 2021, Stratolaunch Systems is owned by Cerberus Capital Management.
L E T ‘ S B E F R I E N D S !
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If you'd like to talk to me about real estate, feel free to email me at m.arias@compass.com or call me at (424) 307-4248.
