Scaled Composites White Knight

White Knight
White Knight carrying SpaceShipOne
Role	Carrier aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Scaled Composites
First flight	August 1, 2002
Number built	1
Developed from	Scaled Composites Proteus
Variants	Scaled Composites White Knight Two

The Scaled Composites Model 318 White Knight is a jet-powered carrier aircraft used to launch the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne experimental spacecraft. It was developed by Scaled Composites as part of their Tier One program. The aircraft is subsequently being offered by Scaled on a contract basis as a research testbed, and was also used for drop tests of the Boeing X-37 spaceplane from June 2005 until April 2006.

Design and development

White Knight compared with Scaled Composites Proteus

White Knight's missions stickers

White Knight carrying a Northrop Grumman radar pod

The Scaled Composites model number for White Knight is 318. White Knight is registered with the Federal Aviation Administration as N318SL.^{[citation needed]}

The White Knight carrier airplane was designed around the twin afterburning J-85 engines, which were selected for their availability and low cost. The aircraft was a completely new independent design. White Knight and SpaceShip One 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 SpaceShip One pilots White Knight first flew on August 1, 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 SpaceShip One 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 SpaceShip One was abandoned.

White Knight next flew on August 5, 2002, and this time performed well. Development proceeded over the next few months. With White Knight developed and evaluated, on April 18, 2003 White Knight and SpaceShipOne were presented to the media.

Subsequently, White Knight flew as part of the Tier One program that won the Ansari X Prize on 2004 October 4. 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 2 which has a similar but larger design.

SpaceShipOne program

Flights of White Knight are numbered, starting with flight 1 on August 1, 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^{[citation needed]}

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
43L	December 17, 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

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 21, 2005, and first drop was on April 7, 2006 (the X-37 was subsequently damaged on landing at Edwards AFB). 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.

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.^[1][2]

Specifications

Data from Scaled Composites^[3]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Capacity: 2
• Payload: 8,000 lb (3,600 kg)
• Length: ()
• Wingspan: 82 ft (25 m)
• Height: ()
• Powerplant: 2 × General Electric J85-GE-5 afterburning turbojets
• Fuel capacity: 6,400 lb (2,900 kg)

Performance

• Service ceiling: 53,000 ft plus (16,000 m)

See also

References

1. ^ Scott, William B, "Morphing Wings", Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2006-11-27
2. ^ Scott, William B, "White Knight Back in Action", Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2006-11-27
3. ^ http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/data_sheets/html/white_knight.htm

External links

• Scaled Composites' Tier One website
• White Knight's FAA registration
• WhiteKnight to launch X-37 test flights