science

Scaled Composites White Knight

Scaled Composites White Knight is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Scaled Composites White Knight rather than just read about it. In short: 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.

Key takeaways

Scaled Composites White Knight belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Scaled Composites White Knight to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Scaled Composites White Knight from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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.

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 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 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 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 October 4, 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 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.

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 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.

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.

Specifications Data from Scaled CompositesGeneral characteristics Crew: 3 Capacity: 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) payload Wingspan: 83 ft (25 m) Empty weight: 6,360 lb (2,885 kg) Max takeoff weight: 18,000 lb (8,165 kg) Fuel capacity: 6,400 lb (2,900 kg) Powerplant: 2 × General Electric J85-GE-5 afterburning turbojet, 2,400 lbf (11 kN) thrust each dry, 3,600 lbf (16 kN) with afterburner Performance

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

Other features and capabilities Carriage and launch of payloads up to 7,000 lb (3,200 kg) Altitude capability above 53,000 ft Large, three-place cabin (60 in (1,524 mm) diameter outside, 59 in (1,499 mm) inside) Sea level cabin qualified for unlimited altitude ECS scrubs CO2, removes humidity and defogs windows Two crew doors with dual seals and dual-pane windows Manual flight controls with three-axis electric trim Avionics include INS-GPS navigator, flight-director, flight test data (recording and T/M), air-data, vehicle health monitoring, backup flight instruments, and video system The 82 ft (25 m) wing can be extended to 93 ft (28 m) for increased climb capability Super-effective, pneumatic speed brakes allow steep descent with L/D < 4.5 Hydraulic wheel brakes and nose-gear steering Pneumatic main gear retraction Dual-bus electrical power system Cockpit allows single-pilot operation (VMC-day conditions only)

See also Flying aircraft carrier Conroy Virtus Lockheed twin-body C-5 Shuttle Carrier proposal Scaled Composites Proteus Scaled Composites Stratolaunch

References

External links

Scaled Composites' Tier One website Archived 2018-04-07 at the Wayback Machine White Knight's FAA registration WhiteKnight to launch X-37 test flights

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Scaled Composites White Knight

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Scaled Composites White Knight claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Scaled Composites White Knight before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Scaled Composites White Knight ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Scaled Composites White Knight

In research: Scaled Composites White Knight appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Scaled Composites White Knight in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Scaled Composites White Knight is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2000s United States experimental aircraft, Air launch carrier aircraft, Aircraft first flown in 2002, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Scaled Composites White Knight outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Scaled Composites White Knight in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Scaled Composites White Knight means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Scaled Composites White Knight in simple terms?

Why does Scaled Composites White Knight matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Scaled Composites White Knight?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Scaled Composites White Knight.