Posted on 09/28/2004 6:36:19 PM PDT by KevinDavis
This is going to be a live thread for tomorrows launch of Spaceship one...
I thought that was the XF-85 "Goblin" crashing that was shown in that intro. I could be wrong though.
This is America at its best.
It not the size of the men in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the men. That's why America is the worlds leader.
Ah, ok, that makes sense. Thanks for the info. I agree about Mike. He walks with his shoes five feet apart, at least.
I don't think it was the X-15, either. The X-15 is what flew right.
The Canadian entry was going to fly next week but has been delayed a little. They will fly, and others will fly even after the prize is either won or expires. The trick is to turn this into a profitable business.
Thank you much. Anybody who disagrees with this please weigh in.
That's not really a very fast roll rate for any high performance aircraft. I can see why the pilot was not overly concerned. I doubt that the control system for this craft was designed to create a roll rate that high, but given that it really wasn't near the ground and pointed virtually straight up, it could take its time bringing it back under control.
It will be interesting to hear what the cause of the situation was. The "wind shear" explanation doesn't hack it.
My question is, who went up with him? If memory serves, one of the Xprize requirements was that the flight must include two passengers along with the pilot/astronaut.
I stand corrected - it was the M2-F2.
I'm finding the Goblin (F-85) was the small fighter loaded beneath a B-36 ....
Lifting wing prototype was the crash maybe? Couple of others have referenced that one.
My take is that the "canadian entry" (if successful) will be better able to make money, but that SS1 is sexier. Kind of like the difference between first class and coach passengers... Given the choice, as an investor after it is proven, I would go with it. After that, I'd spend the money I made on the stock by flying SS1.
Two passengers or appropriate ballast (which he had)
X-Prize rules stipulate that you can carry two passengers or the equivalent of ballast. They just had the equivalent weight on board.
Right, now I'm wrapping my head around it. I'm easily confused, can you tell :)
Yuppers:
The M2-F2 made its 16th glide flight on May 10, 1967. This was to have been the last flight before igniting the XLR-11 rocket engine for powered flight. As pilot Bruce Peterson neared the lakebed, the M2-F2 suffered a pilot induced oscillation (PIO). Peterson recovered but then was distracted by a rescue helicopter that seemed to pose a risk of collision. Distracted, Peterson drifted in a cross-wind to an unmarked area of the lakebed where it was very difficult to judge the height over the lakebed because of a lack of the guidance the markers provided on the lakebed runway. Although Peterson fired the landing rockets to provide additional lift, he hit the lakebed before the landing gear was fully down and locked. He rolled over six times. Pulled from the vehicle by Jay King and Joseph Huxman, Peterson was rushed to the base hospital, transferred to March Air Force Base and then the UCLA Hospital. He recovered but lost vision in his right eye due to a staph infection.
I think you're right. The Goblin was designed to be carried with a B-36 to provide instant fighter support. It was designed to be lowered from the B-36's bomb bay on a trapeze-type arrangement, fly out and do its job, then dock with the trapeze and be pulled back into the bomb bay.
Vortexing?
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