Scaled Composites White Knight One in flight
Scaled Composites White Knight
The Scaled Composites Model 318 White Knight (now also called White Knight One) is a jet-powered carrier aircraft that was used to launch its companion SpaceShipOne, an experimental spaceplane. The White Knight and SpaceShipOne were designed by Burt Rutan and manufactured by Scaled Composites, a private company founded by Rutan in 1982. On three separate flights in 2004, White Knight conducted SpaceShipOne into flight, and SpaceShipOne then performed a sub-orbital spaceflight, becoming the first private craft to reach space.
The White Knight is notable as an example of a mother ship which carried a parasite aircraft into flight, releasing the latter which would then execute a high-altitude flight, or a sub-orbital spaceflight. This flight profile is shared with The High and Mighty One and Balls 8, two modified B-52s which carried the North American X-15 into flight. It is also shared with White Knight Two, a descendant which carries SpaceShipTwo into flight as part of the Virgin Galactic fleet.
Following the SpaceShipOne flights, the White Knight was contracted for drop tests of the Boeing X-37 spaceplane, from June 2005 until April 2006. The White Knight was retired from service in 2014, and is in the inventory of the Flying Heritage Collection.
White Knight compared with Scaled Composites Proteus
Design and development
The Scaled Composites model number for White Knight is 318. White Knight is registered with the Federal Aviation Administration as N318SL.
The White Knight carrier airplane was designed around the twin afterburning General Electric J85 engines, which were selected for their availability and low cost. The aircraft was a completely new independent design. White Knight and SpaceShipOne shared the same forward fuselage outer mold line (OML) to reduce development costs and with the original intent to allow for White Knight to act as a flying simulator for training SpaceShipOne pilots. White Knight first flew on August 1st, 2002. The flight was aborted shortly after takeoff due to a problem with the outboard wing spoilers. These trailing edge spoilers were designed to greatly increase the glide slope so that the White Knight vehicle could act as a flying simulator for training of SpaceShipOne pilots. During the first flight, the mechanical over-center torque was insufficient to maintain the spoilers in the closed position. The spoilers deployed into the free stream and began a limit cycle forcing the pilot (Mike Melvill) to abort. The spoilers were subsequently disabled completely and the desire for a steep glide slope matching SpaceShipOne was abandoned.
White Knight next flew on August 5th, 2002, and this time performed well. Development proceeded over the next few months. With White Knight developed and evaluated, on April 18th, 2003, White Knight and SpaceShipOne were presented to the media.
White Knight’s mission decals
Subsequently, White Knight flew as part of the Tier One program that won the Ansari X Prize on October 4th, 2004.
Afterwards, White Knight was used to carry and launch DARPA’s experimental X-37 spaceplane for its approach and landing tests in 2005 and 2006.
It was followed up by the White Knight Two, which has a similar but larger design.
SpaceShipOne program
Flights of White Knight are numbered, starting with flight 1 on August 1st, 2002. Flights where SpaceShipOne was carried also get one or two appended letters. An appended “C” indicates that the flight was a captive carry, and “L” indicates that SpaceShipOne was launched. If the flight actually flown differs in category from the intended flight, then two letters are appended, the first giving the intended mission and the second the mission actually performed.
White Knight flights carrying SpaceShipOne
Flight Date SS1 Pilot SpaceShipOne flight
24C May 20, 2003 Peter Siebold 01C
29C July 29, 2003 Brian Binnie 02C
30L August 7, 2003 Brian Binnie 03G
31LC August 27, 2003 Brian Binnie 04GC
32L August 27, 2003 Brian Binnie 05G
37L September 23, 2003 Peter Siebold 06G
38L October 17, 2003 Peter Siebold 07G
40L November 14, 2003 Brian Binnie 08G
41L November 19, 2003 Brian Binnie 09G
42L December 4, 2003 Peter Siebold 10G
42L December 4, 2003 Peter Siebold 11P
49L March 11, 2004 Brian Binnie 12G
53L April 8, 2004 Brian Binnie 13P
56L May 13, 2004 Brian Binnie 14P
60L June 21, 2004 Mike Melvill 15P
65L September 29, 2004 Mike Melvill 16P
66L October 4, 2004 Brian Binnie 17P
White Knight carrying a Northrop Grumman radar pod
X-37 test program
White Knight was contracted to perform both captive carry and drop test flights of the DARPA/Boeing X-37. First captive carry flight was on June 21st, 2005, and first drop was on April 7th, 2006 (the X-37 was subsequently damaged on landing at Edwards Air Force Base). Initially, the flights originated from Mojave, but following the landing incident, the program was moved to Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, and at least five subsequent flights were made there.
White Knight carries SpaceShipOne to mission 16P
Adaptive Compliant Wing test program
In late 2006, White Knight flew a seven-flight test program of the adaptive compliant wing developed by FlexSys Inc. with funding by the Air Force Research Laboratory. A laminar flow test article was mounted vertically under White Knight’s centerline pylon for the 20-flight-hour research program that tested the flexible wing’s aerodynamic characteristics.
Retirement to museum
In July 2014 White Knight made its final planned flight, arriving at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, to become part of the Flying Heritage Collection.
The Scaled Composites Model 348 WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) is a jet-powered carrier aircraft which will be used to launch the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. It is being developed by Scaled Composites as the first stage of Tier 1b, a two-stage to suborbital-space manned launch system. WK2 is based on the successful mothership to SpaceShipOne, White Knight, Model 348 WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) is a jet-powered carrier aircraft which will be used to launch the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. It is being developed by Scaled Composites as the first stage of Tier 1b, a two-stage to suborbital-space manned launch system. WK2 is based on the successful mothership to SpaceShipOne, White Knight.
Scaled Composites White Knight Two
The Scaled Composites Model 348 White Knight Two (WK2) is a quadjet cargo aircraft that is used to lift the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft to release altitude. It was developed by Scaled Composites from 2007 to 2010 as the first stage of Tier 1b, a two-stage to suborbital-space crewed launch system. WK2 is based on the successful mothership to SpaceShipOne, White Knight, which itself is based on Proteus.
With an “open architecture” design and explicit plans for multi-purpose use, the aircraft could also operate as a zero-g aircraft for passenger training or microgravity science flights, handle missions in high-altitude testing more generally, or be used to launch payloads other than SpaceShipTwo. A study of use of the aircraft as a forest fire water bomber has also been mentioned, one that would utilize a large carbon composite water tank that could be quickly replenished to make repeat runs over fires.
The first White Knight Two is named VMS Eve after Richard Branson’s mother Eve Branson; it was officially unveiled on July 28, 2008, and flew for the first time on December 21st, 2008. The second is expected to be named VMS Spirit of Steve Fossett after Branson’s close friend Steve Fossett, who died in an aircraft accident in 2007. As of 2015, it is not clear how many SS2 and WK2 vehicles will actually be built.
History
In 2008, Virgin Galactic ordered two White Knight Two vehicles. Together, WK2 and SS2 form the basis for Virgin Galactic’s fleet of suborbital spaceplanes.
In November 2010, The Spaceship Company had announced that it planned to build at least three additional White Knight Two aircraft and an additional five SpaceShipTwo rocket planes, the aircraft to be built by Virgin after the initial prototypes of each craft are built by Scaled Composites.
During 2012–2014, Virgin Galactic was also considering use of the WhiteKnightTwo as the air-launch platform for a new two-stage liquid-fueled rocket small satellite launcher called LauncherOne. In the event—by late 2015—they decided to use a larger carrier aircraft for the job.
PW308 used on the White Knight Two
Design
White Knight Two is roughly three times larger than White Knight in order to perform a captive flight with the larger SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. The WK2 is similar in wingspan to a Boeing B-29 Superfortress. White Knight Two is a very modern aircraft, as even the flight control cables are constructed of carbon fiber, using a new patented design.
WK2 will provide preview flights offering several seconds of weightlessness before the suborbital event. It is intended to have a service ceiling of about 60,000 ft (18 km), offering a dark blue sky to passengers. This will allow tourists to practice before the real flight.
White Knight Two is of twin fuselage design with four jet engines mounted two on each wing. One fuselage is an exact replica of that of SpaceShipTwo (to allow tourist training), and the other will offer ‘cut-rate’ trips to the stratosphere.
The design is quite different from the White Knight, both in size, use of tail, engine configuration and placement of cockpit(s). The White Knight uses two T-tails, but the White Knight Two uses two cruciform tails. Engine configuration is also very different. White Knight Two has four engines hung underneath the wings on pylons while White Knight’s pair of engines are on either side of its single fuselage.
Timeline of introduction
Virgin Galactic contracted aerospace designer Burt Rutan to build the mothership and spacecraft.
On January 23rd, 2008 the White Knight Two design was revealed. On July 28th, 2008 the completion and rollout of the first aircraft, Eve, (Tail Number: N348MS) occurred at Scaled’s Mojave headquarters. Branson predicted that the maiden space voyage would take place in 18 months: “It represents… the chance for our ever-growing group of future astronauts and other scientists to see our world in a completely new light.”
White Knight Two at its rollout and christening ceremony on July 28th, 2008
On March 22nd, 2010 the VMS Eve completed its 25th flight, the first occasion it carried the SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise. In a flight of 2 hours 54 minutes, it ascended to an altitude of 45,000 ft (14,000 m). The launch customer of White Knight Two is Virgin Galactic, which will have the first two units, and exclusive rights to the craft for the first few years.
VMS Eve
VMS Eve (Tail number: N348MS) is a carrier mothership for Virgin Galactic and launch platform for SpaceShipTwo-based Virgin SpaceShips.
VMS Eve was built by Scaled Composites for Virgin Galactic. The “VMS” prefix stands for “Virgin MotherShip”
Public launch
The aircraft was named after Evette Branson, the mother of Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group. The jet plane has nose art of a blonde woman holding a banner with the Virgin Galactic logo. The image is based on how Evette Branson looked when she was younger and is called Galactic Girl. The aircraft was officially launched on July 28th, 2008, in Mojave, California, the United States, at the Mojave Spaceport, home of Scaled Composites. On December 12th, 2008, the aircraft performed first taxi tests, and a week later the maiden flight. Eve is being used in the Virgin Galactic testflight program, preceding entry into commercial usage.
Burt Rutan has dismissed fears that pressurization cycles might induce fatigue failure in the composite structure. Richard Branson has also announced that it will be highly fuel efficient.
Flight test program
The initial flight occurred on 12th December 2008, after an initial low speed taxi test was carried out at Mojave followed by a high speed taxi on 16th December. By September 2009 the flight envelope was extended to 50000 feet. as of 19th September 2014 the total flight time for WhiteKnightTwo is 333.96 hours.
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