HIGH-ALTITUDE `LOITERER' LIFTS OFF AT MOJAVE; PROTEUS LATEST RUTAN CREATION.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer A highflying high·fly·ing adj. 1. Rising to a great height. 2. Unusually extravagant, affected, or ambitious. Adj. 1. ``loitering'' airplane aimed at grabbing a piece of the telecommunications satellite market was unveiled Tuesday by famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (born June 17, 1943 in Estacada, Oregon) is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. . Proteus, the latest in a string of avant-garde aircraft from Rutan's Scaled Composites Scaled Composites (often abbreviated as Scaled), formerly the Rutan Aircraft Factory, is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States and is headed by aircraft designer Burt Rutan. company, made a series of passes over Mojave Airport before a gathering of about 300 guests. ``It was designed to fly very efficiently at high altitudes and very low speeds,'' said Rutan, who designed the Voyager aircraft that flew around the world unrefueled in 1986. ``The airplane is designed for loitering Loitering (IPA pronunciation: ['lɔɪtəˌrɪŋ] is an intransitive verb meaning to stand idly, to stop numerous times, or to delay and procrastinate. . It's designed to go up high and stay there.'' Proteus is expected to be able to carry payloads weighing 2,000 pounds to altitudes above 60,000 feet and stay there for up to 14 hours at a time. Such a capability could be used for scientific research, telecommunications - serving as a relay station for cellular phone signals - or military reconnaissance. Proteus was first flown July 26. Scaled Composites has flown the airplane 12 times, logging a total of 18 hours. It is expected to take 3-1/2 years to get the plane certified for commercial use by the Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control . In the craft's telecommunications form, several Proteuses operating in shifts would provide round-the-clock coverage for a city or region. Each plane would be operated by a two-member crew and would have a seat that can be pulled down to allow a crew member to get some sleep during a shift. ``The main focus of the business plan is telecommunications,'' said Dave Grueber, president of Wyman Gordon, Scaled Composites' parent company. ``We see this being used at 200 to 300 sites around the world, with each site needing three to four airplanes.'' The airplane gets its name from the Greek god who could change his physical form. Proteus is designed to be adaptable to meet the needs of various missions. In its basic configuration, the aircraft has a wingspan of 77.6 feet and a front winglet wing·let n. 1. A small or rudimentary wing. 2. A short, almost vertical stabilizing fin projecting from the tip of an aircraft wing. or canard ca·nard n. 1. An unfounded or false, deliberately misleading story. 2. a. A short winglike control surface projecting from the fuselage of an aircraft, such as a space shuttle, mounted forward of the main wing and that is 54.7 feet across. Extensions can be added to the tips of both the canard and the wings, increasing the main wings' span to almost 92 feet and the canard to more than 64 feet. A section of the fuselage can be disconnected for inserting a payload, such as telecommunications equipment or instruments for measuring atmospheric ozone for researchers. The fuselage barrel can then be reattached. Other uses for the airplane include serving as a platform for launching booster rockets to take small satellites and experiments into space. The booster would be attached to a pylon pylon (Greek: “gateway”) In modern construction, a tower that gives support, such as the steel towers between which electrical wires are strung or the piers of a bridge. mounted beneath the fuselage, then flown to 4,000 feet and released on its way to space. Scaled Composites officials also see the craft's potential for space tourism. It could carry to 30,000 feet a three-man spaceship that would then power its way to the edge of space, giving its occupants about four minutes' time in zero gravity zero gravity n. The condition of apparent weightlessness occurring when the centrifugal force on a body exactly counterbalances the gravitational attraction on it. . CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--Color in AV Edition only) From left, pilot Pete Siebold, Proteus designer Burt Rutan, pilot Mike Melvill and Matthew Johnson discuss the aircraft's flight. (2--Color in AV Edition only) The Proteus, a high-altitude, multiple-use plane created by famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan, takes off on a demonstration flight at Mojave Airport. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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