Posted on 06/20/2004 6:06:19 PM PDT by KevinDavis
Who is going to pilot ?
well I said man made object first...manned would come later!
The Pilot is Mike Mellville.
He is a builder of one of Burt's Homebuilt Designs the "Vari Viggen", he built a gorgeous one.
I am not sure of his background but he hooked (career wise) up with Burt and Dick and has been with them for over 25 years.
While at the Oshkosh Air-show in 1985 at the crack of dawn, I got a talk to him while Burt and Dick critiqued a design (They were laughing a bit) called the Prescott Pusher, which was a real P.O.S.
For those of you in Reo-Lynda that means it didn't fly well.
By the way, I have attended many Rutan Forums at Oshkosh. IT would be safe to say they are Rush Listeners and REVILE the Clinton's, and often told many Clinton Jokes.
Burt's brother Dick more so, since he flew over 100 missions over Vietnam, many still classified. He has spoken out with ferocity against Slick and his minions...
Speaking of Clinton I wonder if he'll be out at Mojave hawking his book, looking for the TV cameras.
This flight could knock politics off the news for a couple of days and that would cut into Slick's face time.
EAA is great. I was there the first year they had the F117, and it was amazing. The EAA fly-in is one of a kind, indeed.
|
|||||||||||||||
Is the 6:30AM launch for SS1 or the White Knight? If the White Knoght, how long will it take to get to 50K?
I would suspect a long time. Those aren't the most powerful engines.
Yeah, I figured that, but is the plane in the air right now for a 6:30AM drop or does the whole vehicle stack take off at 6:30 which means I should be able to watch the launch (record actually, I'll probably be asleep)?
Anybody watching the flight right now (if it's in the air)
The only winds that are important to this flight is the surface winds.
Once they are airborne, they can handle the rest, until the landing.
I intend to play Bill Conti's "The Right Stuff" soundtrack on my way to work in honor of Rutan and company.
I can't think of a more evocative piece of music than "Breaking the Sound Barrier." You got a sense that the dropship was in the vault of a cathedral...
I everybody ready?
Is everybody ready?
What time are they launching?
OH I found it
T- 1hr 17min.....
Radio station KLOA 104.9 plans a live audio webcast: http://ci.ridgecrest.ca.us/spaceship1/
Great work!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.