"It definitely was ready to fly and wanted to fly and climbed out quickly." "The airplane very nicely, smoothly rotated and really just lifted off the ground," he said. Test pilot Evan Thomas of Scaled Composites LLC, which built the aircraft, said the flight overall was "fantastic" and for the most part the plane flew as predicted. The jet flew 2 1/2 hours, achieving a maximum speed of 304 km/h and altitudes up to 5,181 metres, the company said.
Saturday and climbed into the desert sky 112 kilometres north of Los Angeles. The behemoth, twin-fuselage Stratolaunch jet lifted off from Mojave Air and Space Port shortly before 7 a.m. "It was an emotional moment for me, to personally watch this majestic bird take flight, to see Paul Allen's dream come to life in front of my very eyes," Floyd told a teleconference briefing.įloyd said that as the plane lifted off, "I did whisper a 'thank you' to Paul for allowing me to be part of this remarkable achievement." Stratolaunch, which was founded by Allen, is vying to be a contender in the market for air-launching small satellites. chief executive Jean Floyd said Saturday the aircraft made a "spectacular" landing that was on the mark.
LOS ANGELES - A giant six-engine aircraft with the world's longest wingspan completed what company officials called a superb initial flight over California's Mojave Desert, bringing to life a dream held by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul G.
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