Stratolaunch rolls out of hangar.

[Niner Lima Charlie]

Enormous Stratolaunch Carrier Aircraft Rolls Out of Hangar for First Time (http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a26715/stratolaunch-rolls-out-of-hangar/)

[TURIN]

Wow! They kept that quiet.

[Airbubba]

Wow! They kept that quiet.

Another billionaire mega-project is Sergey Brin's blimp in one of the old NAS Moffett hangars:

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is building a hi-tech airship in Silicon Valley destined to be the largest aircraft in the world, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the project.

“It’s going to be massive on a grand scale,” said one, adding that the airship is likely to be nearly 200 meters long. This would make it by far the world’s largest aircraft today, albeit smaller than the epic Hindenburg Zeppelins of the 1930s, or the American navy airship USS Macon that was once based in the very same hangars where Brin’s aircraft is now taking shape.

The sources revealed details of the airship on the condition of anonymity, citing confidentiality agreements. Brin has revealed nothing of his airship ambitions and is building the airship in a giant hangar on a Nasa airfield far from the eyes of the public.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/26/google-sergey-brin-building-largest-aircraft

[Intruder]

It's been in & out of the news for a couple years.

I wonder about the torque on the center wing section with the 2 independent tail sections. The FBW system has to be REALLY sophisticated to keep them in synch...

[mickjoebill]

Slightly greater wingspan than Antonov.
Two cockpits? One for flight crew and one for payload crew?

https://goo.gl/images/wGShwQ


Wow! They kept that quiet.
In retrospect the hanger doors were a clue:)

[glad rag]

does it come with AES?

[TWT]

Captain is in left flightdeck,FO in right flight deck. Gets interesting when both declare 'I have control' :p

[DaveReidUK]

Powered by 6 PW4056 engines salvaged from a pair of scrapped 747-400s.

[noflynomore]

Or to put this astonishing thing into perspective;

Stratolaunch
wingspan of 117 m (385 ft)
MTOW 1,200,000lb (540,000Kg)
Payload 500,000 (227,300Kg)

B747-400
Wingspan 211 ft 5 in (64.44 m)
MTOW 875,000 lb / 396,890 kg
APS 404,600lb / 183,520kg

C17
Wingspan: 169.8 ft (51.75 m)
Empty weight: 282,500 lb (128,100 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 585,000 lb (265,350 kg)

An225
Wingspan: 88.4 m (290 ft 0 in)
Empty weight: 285,000 kg (628,317 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 640,000 kg (1,410,958 lb)

(figures from Wikipedia)

[ethicalconundrum]

Paul Allen's Ginormous Stratolaunch Carrier Plane Rolls Out for 1st Time (http://www.space.com/37046-stratolaunch-worlds-largest-airplane-first-rollout.html)

Big plane. Designed to carry orbital rocket platforms aloft for air launch.

I'm not an aero-engineer, but I'm a bit concerned about torsional rigidity with the tails being independent. Only common reference is the middle spar and surrounding structure. An engine failure on an outboard engine might be - interesting.

[DaveReidUK]

http://www.pprune.org/spectators-balcony-spotters-corner/595344-stratolaunch-rolls-out-hangar.html

[MathFox]

I do think the wing between both fuselages is extra strong, because it carries the mission payload. I see no problems with some elastic movement (on any modern plane the wings flex in turbulence) as the tails are mostly dragged along.
There will be some roll-axis flexing, but I see no issue with that. The middle wing looks pretty stiff with respect to yaw-axis flexing and that would need some wing-box strengthening compared to a single fuselage aircraft.

[ethicalconundrum]

"Stiff" and "elastic" are not descriptors commonly used together in engineering.

I'm a bit worried about asymmetrical moments on each tail individually.

[MurphyWasRight]

I would be more worried if there was a pilot in each cockpit in control of "their half" of the plane, would bring a whole new meaning to CRM :)

I presume that the flight control software would be capable of sensing and controlling any independant tail wagging tendencies.

What will be a major thrill is the response when 500,000 pounds is released.

[MoateAir]

I recall seeing the AN225 some years ago which needed careful management to taxi in your average larger airport. If this wingspan is 66 meters wider than the 225, and twice the weight of the 225, it will be interesting to see what changes will be required at its home base, and where it could divert to if it had an airborne issue far from home.

[ShyTorque]

The tow truck drivers will need some formation training or things could get very nasty very quickly!

[noflynomore]

If this ... twice the weight of the 225


Actually about 100tons less by the figures given...

[DaveReidUK]

I don't think that rounding up 1.875 x to 2 x invalidates the OP's point. :O

[El Bunto]

The data posted from Wikipedia is slightly misleading in that it lists the empty weight for the An-225 but no others. The Ukrainian beast is still the heaviest by a good margin.

In terms of configuration this is pretty-much a realisation of the Conroy Virtus "Shuttle Carrier Aircraft" design of the 1970s, or those barmy Molniya Heracles satellite-launcher designs of the 1990s. Nothing really new except it was built ( which I concede is a fairly major advance ).

# ep095 Molniya-1000 Heracles : USSR-AIRSPACE, Cosmonaut and Aviation collectibles (http://www.ussr-airspace.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28_39_38_108&products_id=1654)

[noflynomore]

I don't think that rounding up 1.875 x to 2 x invalidates the OP's point. :O
Where does 1.875 come from? I never quoted it if you please!
Stratolaunch MTOW 540T
An225 MTOW 640T.

ie Antonov is 100 tons heavier which by my maths makes the Stratothingy considerably lighter rather than twice as heavy...

[DaveReidUK]

Where does 1.875 come from? I never quoted it if you please!

You're right, of course.

In my defence, you did quote kg followed by lbs for the An-225 MTOW, and the opposite for the Stratolaunch.

I'll pay more attention next time. :\

[Lyneham Lad]

There is also a thread on this subject (http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/595339-stratolaunch-roll-out.html) running on Jet Blast.