While Rutan have specifically refused permission to use their name and any material not in the public domain (photos, press handouts, etc), there is one kit available that bears a passing resemblance to it:
Wulf
Sure hope that it's better than A-Model's horrible kit of brother Dick Rutan's Voyager.
When I gave Dick an example he first thanked e, then called back and wanted to know if they had an American distributor that he could tar and feather. :-)
I guess a few of us should shell out the $80 and build the Unicraft model. That way we can be guarenteed a decent injection molded kit.
Tom
Hmm a Sikorsky moment! Yep that's a kit but it looks to be up to Mach 2 standards. I can't see any reason he wouldn't want a kit of one assuming alittle cash changed hands but Wulf's post that may be the case. Allen
There's also:
It should be as famous as Lindbergh's plane. IMO this is every bit as significant as his solo flight across the Atlantic.
Doesn't look half bad but there apparently aren't any decals included. That should provide extra fun...... ;-p
i've been waiting for home brew space flight for 40 years. john ball jr predicted exactly this kind of craft under the same circumstances. for the 70's! damn entropy is pissing me the ......
According to posts in rec.models.rockets, the Estes model rocket company will be putting out semi-scale kits of eight of the X-prize contenders. You can see the new kits here:
Jeff Clark
Just as I opened this thread the story came onto CBS news.
According to the talking head the rocket was taken to altittude for launch be "a specially built large glider".
Wow, nice trick. I guess the jet pod on top was for show only.
What maroons.
Tom
Yup - I heard other maroons proclaim that "It got high enough to be weightless" Dagnab talking heads.
Don Henly was right. "I just have to look good, I don't have to be clear. The bubble-headed bleach-blonde comes on at 5. She can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye"
Never EVER trust ANY news source that runs commercials - for ANYTHING.
ANYTHING.
Which leaves the BBC
I was actually having an email conversation with Igor (Unicraft) about Sikorsky (he makes a couple of them too) when he told me He'd had to change the name on the kit, and had been denied access to any drawings. They'd probably never have noticed if he hadn't asked...
Oh, and Unicraft have always carried the warning "For experienced modellers" :-)
Wulf
And NPR. Ouch.....
Well, it did go high enough for the pilot (if not strapped in) to feel weightless once it started coming back down again. Of course, you could accomplish the same thing from 40,000 feet, as the Air Force has demonstrated by giving astronauts a taste of 'weightlessness' with aircraft (C-135?) that dive from altitude while the astronauts 'float' inside the fuselage.
About the only thing really noteworthy as a change-state for this particular flight is that a privately-funded manned flying machine flew high enough to escape the Earth's atmosphere (depending on definition, it might extend further than 62 miles, but the particle density up there is so negligible as to be irrelevant). That hasn't been done before, and it's a tremendous achievement. If the funding stays steady, private manned orbital flight is within near-term reach.
Anyway, what do you expect from newsies? The inaccuracies they report on a daily basis are absolutely astounding, without even considering any right/left slant. Ignorance, after all, knows no political orientation. I can't stand to watch any TV news for more than about five minutes any more, unless it's a breaking story where the live videotape says more than the voice over it.
Mark Schynert
God, they're replete with commericals these days too. No more is it "This program is presented by a grant from Archer-Daniels-Midland." No it's more like "This program is presented by a grant from Archer-Daniels-Midland; We drive/package/feed America." Sounds like a commercial to me.
Mark Schynert
And the CBC (radio only).
Good point. Another example of a difference without a distinction.....
I think the 62 mile figure represents 100 km. You don't need to go to any specific altitude to feel weighlessness. Just jump off the roof of your house....Kim m
And they'd go so well with Quest's "Clipper" - wish that project had continued...
What to expect from Newsies? That was sort of my point. *shrug* And again, "Altitude" has nothing to do with weightlessness, it's all Trajectory.
100km, 50km, 10km, 1km - irrelevant.PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.