airtwardo 6 #1 February 24, 2005 Make space for EAA AirVenture on your calendar if you want to touch a real spaceship. EAA and Scaled Composites are promising unprecedented access to SpaceShipOne and its mother ship White Knight as the Ansari X-Prize winning combination settles in for the full week of the annual convention in Oshkosh starting July 25. "We want the public to be able to come up and touch it," said Mike Melvill, who became the world's first private astronaut in SpaceShipOne last year. Melvill said it will not only be the first such opportunity, it will be the last. "It will be the first, only and last appearance," he said in a teleconference held with reporters Wednesday. There appear to be tentative plans to fly the aircraft directly to Washington, D.C., where they'll go on permanent display at the Air and Space Museum, but EAA President Tom Poberezny said those plans haven't been worked out yet. And although the Scaled team made getting into space look easy, getting the two aircraft from their home base in Mojave, Calif., to Oshkosh is a logistical challenge. Melvill said the relatively short-legged White Knight will make at least two refueling stops (Albuquerque and Tulsa look like the favorites) but they'll need start carts to get the old T-38 engines that power the mother ship started. ...Generosity, Innovation ... And Really Good Marketing The aircraft will overnight at Madison July 24 and make a scheduled arrival (most likely early afternoon) at AirVenture on opening day. Melvill said they'll do several passes and possibly an afterburner climb before touching down. It's not known if any flights will be held during the show but Melvill promised to make a similarly splashy exit the following Sunday. The space plane may share center stage with another Scaled creation that (hopefully) will have set another impressive record by then. Poberezny said there have been talks with Steve Fossett to have GlobalFlyer at this year's AirVenture. GlobalFlyer remains grounded in Salina, Kan., awaiting favorable weather to embark on a nonstop solo flight around the world sometime soon (maybe March 1). The jet-powered GlobalFlyer is expected to circumnavigate the earth in 80 hours or less on a single tank (actually, there are 13) of fuel. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Floats18 0 #2 February 24, 2005 So..... How much is a jump ticket? btw I'm an engineering student and I find that to be FREAKING AWESOME.--- and give them wings so they may fly free forever DiverDriver in Training Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #3 February 24, 2005 Quote How much is a jump ticket? Quote Humm...good question! I've gotten to jump the show there for a little over 20 years now... The 'tickets' cost more than you would believe! Hopefully I'll do better with the Space Plane than the "Voyager" back in '86... Had the opportunity to get some 'Behind the Ropes' photos with Jeanna Yeager and Dick Rutan and the 'Around the World' un-refueled Aeroplane.... But~ My buddy forgot to put FILM in the camera!! SKYDIVERS! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peej 0 #4 February 25, 2005 That's freaking cool! I'd dig to see something like that up close. Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WrongWay 0 #5 February 25, 2005 Quote I'm a skydiver......wanna touch me? Okay really, that's coooooooooooool. If you go, post pics!!! Wrong Way D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451 The wiser wolf prevails. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 135 #6 February 25, 2005 QuoteHad the opportunity to get some 'Behind the Ropes' photos with Jeanna Yeager and Dick Rutan and the 'Around the World' un-refueled Aeroplane.... But~ My buddy forgot to put FILM in the camera!! SKYDIVERS! He he.... no video... DIDN'T HAPPEN scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #7 February 25, 2005 Quote He he.... no video... DIDN'T HAPPEN Quote Tell me about it! Our "Camera Whiz" team mate didn't even tell us there was NO FILM until a week later... We had a "GOT FILM?" tee-shirt made for him...! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
