There have been some really big flying machines built over the years.
In the late 1940s, there was the Hughes Aircraft H-4 Hercules heavy transport flying boat, better known as the “Spruce Goose.” With its 321-foot wingspan and 218-foot length, nothing similar had ever been seen until billionaire Howard Hughes had the wooden monster built for military purposes and then briefly flew it over the harbor near Long Beach, Calif.
Of course, Boeing upped the commercial aircraft ante in the late 1960s with the introduction of the 747, and when a Pan Am 747 took off in January 1970, the famous “Jumbo Jet” went on to hold the passenger capacity record for a whopping 37 years.
Since then, Russia has come up with a series of big, fat Antonov models that dominate current biggest-plane rankings, and Europe’s Airbus has taken its place on the charts.
But next year, everything changes again when an absolutely gigantic craft called “Stratolaunch” makes its first flight.
Under the watchful eye of Stratolaunch Systems owner and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the first version of the mega-plane is currently in production at Mojave Air and Space Port in southern California. The completed product will feature two fuselages, six Pratt & Whitney jet engines (similar to those of a 747), 28 landing gear wheels and a 385-foot wingspan.
Placed centered on a football field, the Stratolaunch would extend past the goalposts on either end by 15 feet. It’s 65-feet wider than the Spruce Goose and 95-feet wider than the spaceship-carrying Antonov An-225.
Whoa – that’s big.
Nicknamed “Roc” (after the mythical bird of prey), the machine’s purpose will be to carry a three-stage rocket equipped with a satellite between its two fuselages. The rocket will detach at about 30,000 feet, blast into space and release the satellite into orbit. The combined weight of “Roc” and it companion rocket will be about 1.3 million pounds.
Now that’s what I call a heavier-than-air craft. Obviously, a huge plane requires a huge hangar, and the 62-year-old Allen (who also owns the NFL Seattle Seahawks and NBA Portland Trail Blazers) has had one built at the Spaceport. It should do, because it covers 103,257 square feet.
I can only imagine what Orville and Wilbur Wright might have said if told such a thing would exist when they executed the first sustained flight of a heavier-than-air machine near the North Carolina coast in December 1903. Especially when told the thing’s wingspan would be about twice as wide as their flight.
Stratolaunch (headquartered in Huntsville, Ala.) plans to conduct six to 10 missions per year when the craft is deemed ready. At the beginning, take-offs and landings will likely be on TV newscasts because people will want to see this thing perform.
One thing’s for sure, when the Stratolaunch is tested, it should draw a crowd to the California desert. The scene should bring a whole new meaning to the term, “big air.”
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald. Email him at ddavison@houstonherald.com.