Page 1 - Aerotech News and Review, March 4, 2022

Aerotech News
Aerotech News
Aerotech News

Journal of Aerospace, Defense Industry and Veteran News
and Review
and Review

Stratolaunch ‘ROC’ has significant 4th flight test

Photograph by Jim Mumaw
by Cathy Hansen The aircraft flew for 1 hour, 43 minutes over
special to Aerotech News the Mojave Desert and reached an altitude of
15,000 feet.
After a couple of days of strong winds, rain This flight featured a retraction test of land-
and blowing snow, Feb. 24 dawned clear, calm ing gear and further expanded the envelope of
and cold. proven capabilities.
The perfect flight test weather greeted every- Roc has a very complex landing gear system
one on the ground and at altitude for the impor- with two nose gear and six landing gear on the
tant full retraction of all landing gear on Stra- main fuselage, 24 brakes, 28 wheels and 34
tolaunch carrier aircraft, the largest aircraft by moving panels or gear doors. This was the first protechlove.com photograph
wingspan in the world — 385-feet. Nicknamed attempt to retract all 28 wheels (8 bogies). The tions. systems and overall flight performance,” said
‘Roc’ as a tribute to the giant bird of Arabian last flight retracted the middle left bogie only Launched from the Roc carrier aircraft, Tal- Dr. Zachary Krevor, Stratolaunch president and
and Persian mythology. as a test. The reason for the left side was so the on-A vehicles are rocket-powered, autonomous, chief operating officer. “The full landing gear
Aviation photographers and devoted fans crew could observe the retraction. reusable test-beds carrying customizable pay- retraction and extension brings the carrier air-
watched from the end of runway 30 at Mojave Roc will be used as the carrier aircraft for loads at speeds above Mach 5. This capability
Air and Space Port to witness the grandeur of Stratolaunch’s upcoming hypersonic test-bed enables routine access to the hypersonic flight craft closer to operational status, a milestone
the liftoff. Takeoff time was scheduled for 8 named Talon A. environment, which is critical for scientific re- that is necessary to ready the aircraft for Talon-
a.m., PST, but last minute pre-flight lists took The Talon-A can be fitted out with differ- search, technological development, and compo- A separation and hypersonic flight tests later
longer than expected. At 12:23 p.m.,‘Roc’ lifted ent payloads and is fully reusable, designed to nent demonstration. this year.”
into the air for the fourth time since her maiden enable swift, repeatable testing of hypersonic “Today’s successful flight demonstrates and In addition to testing the carrier aircraft, the
flight in April 2019. flight technologies for all manner of applica- validates improvements to the carrier aircraft’s See STRATOLAUNCH, Page 2

March 4, 2022 • Volume 37, Issue 4 Serving the aerospace industry since 1986 Use your smartphone to connect to
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