Stratolaunch Carrier Aircraft 'Roc' Dubbed the Largest Plane With 385 Feet Wingspan, Deployed for Test Flight

Last Thursday, the new carrier aircraft Stratolaunch Roc was deployed for a test flight. The vehicle took almost a two-hour trip over the vast skies of the desert in Southern California.

Stratolaunch Roc: Largest Airplane

The Stratolaunch developers claim that the latest release of their aircraft is the largest plane to date. The scale of the flight vehicle is measured to 116 meters of wingspan. Stratolaunch Rpc took off from California's Mojave Air and Space Port at 3:23 PM EST.

The aircraft has a structure similar to the letter "H," having a wing that connects within the middle of two bodies (fuselage). The flight of the Stratolaunch Roc ran for about one hour and 34 minutes. It flew at a speed of 280 kilometers per hour and reached an altitude of about 4,572 meters.

The maximum speed of the Stratolaunch Roc could clock to over 850 kilometers per hour. On Thursday, the plane was maneuvered by two pilots and a single flight engineer.

The project was dubbed as 'Test Flight 4,' in which the plane's landing gear would be examined and retracted for the first time. However, the test was immediately halted because of minor issues such as unexpected vibrations and blinking of warning lights after the first hour of the flight.

Fortunately, the Stratolaunch Roc came back to the Mojave airport in one piece. Four flybys were performed prior to the plane's landing to burn its extra fuel and to ensure the performance of its remaining functions.

The wingspan of the plane measured 116 meters (383 feet), which is quite larger compared to a football pitch that has a standard scale of 105 meters (345 feet).

The firm behind the development of modern carrier aircraft was led by Microsoft's co-founder Paul Allen. The company has remained active since 2011 and goals to assemble a fully-functioning line of planes by 2023.

Future of Hypersonic Flight Carriers

The Stratolaunch aircraft is expected to be completed any time soon. Once on the field, the vehicle will be the first among the few that utilizes sustainable hypersonic flight for the general public.

Allen passed away in 2018 due to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is just less than a year before the firm tested flights for the first batch of the aircraft.

According to a report by CNBC, the Stratolaunch company spent 300 million dollars to develop the project back in 2011. By 2019, the entire project's cost jumpered to 400 million dollars.

Alongside the Roc aircraft line, Stratolaunch is developing a separate flight vehicle called 'Talon A,' which is powered by a rocket system that could reach a hypersonic level.

Stratolaunch COO and president Zachary Krevor said that the successful flight last week exhibited the milestones that the aircraft development achieved in terms of flight performance and aircraft systems, DailyMail reports.

Krevor explained that the Roc's gear retraction and extension are bringing the entire development nearer to operational status. The success of the plane's demonstration paves the way for the firm's new Talon A aircraft for flight and separation tests later this year, he adds.