Scaled Composites White Knight

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The Scaled Composites Model 318 White Knight is a jet-powered carrier aircraft used to launch the SpaceShipOne experimental spacecraft. It was developed by Scaled Composites as part of their Tier One program. The aircraft was also used for drop tests of the X-37 spaceplane from June 2005 until April 2006. The White Knight is named after X-15 pilots Robert M. White and Pete Knight.

1 History
2 Characteristics
3 Flights carrying SpaceShipOne
4 X-37 test program
5 Related content
6 External links

[edit] History

Image:White Knight SS1 RH.jpg The Scaled Composites model number of White Knight is 318. White Knight is registered with the Federal Aviation Administration as N318SL.

White Knight first flew on August 1 2002. The flight was aborted shortly after takeoff due to a problem with the outboard spoilers. These were auxiliary spoilers designed to be pneumatically actuated to improve roll control when landing with crosswind. During the first flight, low air pressure turned out to be sufficient to suck the spoilers out of their recesses. This reduced lift increased the ambient air pressure and allowed the spoilers to spring back, restoring lift. This occurred cyclically, causing vibration of the airframe, and the pilot decided to abort. The spoilers were subsequently disabled completely, rather than fixed, as they were deemed unnecessary.

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.

[edit] Characteristics

White Knight is powered by two General Electric J85-GE-5 afterburning turbojets. The aircraft was developed out of the Proteus design.

Image:White Knight frontal view.jpg

[edit] Flights carrying SpaceShipOne

Flights of White Knight are numbered, starting with flight 1 on August 1 2002. Flights where SpaceShipOne is 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	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	Brian Binnie	15P
65L	September 29 2004		16P
66L	October 4 2004	Mike Melvill	17P

[edit] 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.