First flight of the largest aircraft in the world: the Roc!

[GMK]

Privately developed rocket launch vehicle, the Roc. 

 

 

 

 

[Jure Miljevic]

Split flaps, that is a blast from the past! They work well both ways, as flaps and as air brakes, but they seem to be out of fashion for the last half a century or so. Cheers

Jure

[Alan P]

It really looks like a photoshop job, doesn't it 😂

Another big step forward for privately-funded space vehicle development.

 

Jure already mentioned the split flaps, also it looks like no gear doors either. Is that a weight-saving exercise? 🤔

 

Nice pics though!

Alan

[exdraken]

wow!

I still do not understand how to handle the flex/ torsion in such a design without adding an enormous amount of weight.....

Edited April 14, 2019 by exdraken

[GMK]

It does look like a cut and paste gone wrong!

 

 

 

[Roger Holden]

Looks like something Gerry Anderson came up with......

[mackem01]

Gerry Anderson had a bit more vision for design!😉

[Truro Model Builder]

Seeing footage of it rolling out of the hangar, I find myself humming the Zero-X music from the opening sequence of Thunderbirds Are Go.

 

[pigsty]

I still do not understand how to handle the flex/ torsion in such a design without adding an enormous amount of weight.....

It’s that Burt Rutan.  The man is a sorceror when it comes to lightweight, efficient composite structures.  In a sense, to achieve this thing he’s just taken this:

http://myfiles.globalaircraft.org/fileViewer.pcgi?src=/vipersx911/White_Knight_2__2.jpg

- and kept feeding it til it outgrew the cage he was keeping it in.

[Britman]

Rutan and his team are masters of composite stress and torsion loading I think. I think this would not have been possible with metal construction. Mind you, that fuselage looks pretty industrial under the wings.

 

Keith

[Alan P]

On 4/15/2019 at 9:50 PM, mackem01 said:

Gerry Anderson had a bit more vision for design!😉

Gerry Anderson never had to worry about any of his designs actually flying!