Virgin Galactic problem

The Concorde was doomed after 9/11. Everything to do with air travel went up in price. She was unaffordable, and old. She was an awesome aircraft, but extremely expensive to run. Perhaps the most beautiful aircraft ever to fly.

 

The post I was referring to was talking about the wealthy individuals that put a deposit down to go up on SpaceShipTwo when it started commercial tourist operations. I don't consider those celebrities/wealthy people brave at all. The guys (and gals) that are test pilots obviously are. Unless you're labeling the tourists as test pilots as well, which I don't consider them to be.

 

Didn't Branson say he and his family were going yo be on the first 'tourist' ride? Probably be a couple more yrs now before that happens.

 

I think the motor exploded.

 

It appears so. It's one of the possibilities that is always present in rocketry.

 

Maybe, maybe not
Virgin Galactic Crash Probe Focuses on Possible Structural Failure - WSJ - WSJ

 

Structural failure? Unlikely in a Burt Rutan design, but anything's possible.

 

She should not have been pulling enough g's to cause structural failure, especially of the fuselage.

 

Some good news, hopefully factual. I saw in a report this morning that the co-pilot is alert and talking to investigators.

 

NTSB apparently reporting uncommanded reconfiguration into re entry mode and consequent structural failure.....

M

 

If that is true, it certainly would have done the damage. You would think that they could see that in the footage.

 

Under power and at a relatively low altitude the aerodynamic forces on those "feathers" would have been huge.

 

My understanding is that the flight was being tracked by cinetheodolites at / around Edwards AFB and I imagine that they will be able to help piece the chain of events together. Who knows if the footage will be released though.

 

Mark- That would do it in the relatively high q environment they were in. The pull up to meet the climb schedule would have been fairly gentle to conserve energy, but turning her into a parachute/shuttlecock in relatively dense air would be really bad.

 

Sir Richard Branson announced today that he and his family would not hesitate to fly into space (or near-space) on it despite this setback.

 

Won't Sir Branson need to have a new spaceship built in order to make that happen? My impression was that there was only one copy of "Spaceship 2".

 

Apparently one does not have to make much sense when one is an O.B.E.

 

Not if history is any indicator.

I do however wish him luck.

 

Yes, and I also admire him for having the guts to go first in trying this.

 

Sir Richard is as good an example as there is that to succeed greatly you must risk greatly.

 

The next ship is already 2/3 completed as we speak.

 

It's not that he doesn't make sense, it's just that he will need a new spaceship. I really hope he presses on and makes the Virgin Galactic thing work. Everybody was so focused on the problem being an engine malfunction and what a "tin can" SS2 was and now it looks like the problem was something completely different. The Wright Brothers had a propeller fail in one of their early planes which lead a crash and the death of an Army officer who was an observer on the flight. The incident made them only more determined to carry on with their flying experiments. I'm not signed up for a flight because I don't have a quarter mil to drop on that sort of thing but if I could I would.

Thanks for sharing that... It's not something I really follow that closely.

 

According to air pioneer Lilenthal - "Sacrifices must be made".

That is what is carved on his tombstone after an early glider accident.

 

Even worse, with the engine firing!

 

I came across something today saying that video shows the co-pilot manually releasing the "rotating" tail way early in the flite.
I gather the tail rotated in some manner to act as an air brake on reentry?
Will try and find source.

Here:

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0IM0RO20141103?irpc=932

More:

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/virgin-voyage/how-spaceshiptwos-feathered-wings-were-supposed-work-n240256

(NOW I get how it worked...)