So...I understand *why* Rutan came up with this design, but jeeze, I wouldn't want to be the guy responsible for that center wing joint - especially if this beast ever hits any major turbulence...or experiences asymmetric control failure...
Looks like an accident waitin' to happen to me.
"At 140 ft, the wing spar is the longest single carbon composite aviation component ever manufactured. "
mk
'tis a bit scarey lookin in that regard. But then Branson and Rutan are a bit scarey lookin' in this picture as well!
Can someone please tell me (with attribution if possible), what exactly is the advantage of kaunching rockets from the aeroplane at 15km above the ground cf starting from the ground, given that the difference in the acceleration due to gravity, g, is around a quarter of a percent and the difference in potential energy is around 14 percent ?
Thanks,
Its the potential energy..because you need to lift the fuel weight, which lessens with the burn, its a lot more han 15% reduction on rocket mass to start higher..assuming you want orbit altitudes.
ISTR that on a typical shuttle type launch, the majority of the fuel goes in getting the thing up the first few km.
You have obviously given this some thought but also think about this in terms of air density and drag.
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