EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT MAY HAVE SET FLIGHT RECORDS.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer MOJAVE - Scaled Composites announced it is seeking certification for three unofficial world records for altitude set by the company's Proteus aircraft. The Proteus set apparent records for peak sustained altitude (62,786 feet), sustained altitude in horizontal flight (61,919 feet), and peak altitude with a 1,000-kilogram payload (55,878 feet) during flights from the Mojave Airport on Oct. 25 and Oct. 27. The company applied to the National Aeronautic Association The National Aeronautic Association of the United States (NAA) is a member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the international standard setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics. NAA is the record-keeper for United States aviation. for certification of the records for aircraft with takeoff weights between 3,000 kilograms and 6,000 kilograms, or 6,614 pounds to 13,227 pounds. The Proteus is yet another of aircraft designer Burt Rutan's avant garde airplanes. The aircraft is designed to fly at high altitudes and loiter loiter v. to linger or hang around in a public place or business where one has no particular or legal purpose. In many states, cities, and towns there are statutes or ordinances against loitering by which the police can arrest someone who refuses to "move along. there for hours, serving as a sort of suborbital suborbital /sub·or·bi·tal/ (sub-or´bi-t'l) infraorbital. sub·or·bit·al adj. Situated on or below the floor of the orbit of the eye. n. satellite. NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. is looking at the aircraft as a platform to carry aloft atmospheric research equipment and other instruments. The spindly, 56-foot-long Proteus is powered by two Williams/Rolls Royce turbofan engines. The aircraft structure is all composite materials. Takeoff weights for the two Proteus flights were 8,962 pounds and 11,319 pounds. Mike Melvill and Bob Waldmiller were the crew for both flights. The crew wore pressure suits lent to them by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. . The flights were conducted over military R-2508 airspace, a test range that covers the eastern Mojave and Owens Valley. The flights were conducted under the sponsorship of the NASA Office of Earth Sciences. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Scaled Composites is seeking certification of three unofficial records set earlier this month by its experimental aircraft Proteus, which is being considered by NASA for atmospheric research missions. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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