Richard Lamb wrote in message ...
pacplyer wrote:

Richard Lamb was right: "He's dead Jim, dead Jim,
dead."

So I guess we would have augered in with a stock 747-200.
As Clint Eastwood used to say: "A man's just gotta-know his
limitations."

pacplyer


Not THAT'S something that doesn't happen every day!


The problem here is that the 747 was designed to LIFT stuff, not
pull it.

True enough. Even the NASA carrier transport, is a misapplication of
the original design. What's attractive is that 747's are plentifully
available and rather cheap compared to the cost of engineering a whole
new machine of that size, or plunking down 20mil each launch over at
Vandenberg. Buying an old 747-100 for 30 million and re-engining for
another 60mil breaks even in about five launches. Also Burt and Co.
could focus more on building the Orbiter itself. My guess is Burt may
wind up building a massive "Black Knight" in the next couple of years
(but what's that going to cost?) He could use the existing White
Knight Cockpit design, but if he uses the same type of construction,
the thing might be bigger than the Voyager! The 747 is about 199
lbs/ft wing loading IIRC. It has a massive Titanium spar that can do
amazing lifting feats: and that's initially what we are after, to lift
the thing to FL500. Turning it into a towplane after we get up there
has never been done before, and that's why we will get bragging rights
and free launch passes when it is done. ;-)

One thing is for su the ability to escape all the costs and weight
of the conventional first stage renting a government facility is the
name of the game here. It costs Burt virtually NOTHING to use Mojave,
since it is a public airport with no landing fees.


How about let's get a fresh napkin and work out what's really needed
for the job?

Richard

I was just doing a super wag (wild ass guess) exercise to convince
myself that it was worth further inquiry. I think my friend at
Scaled is right though. We cannot exceed a half inch average line
width or we're doomed. In my mind we need to find something that
average width that has a 200,000lb tensile strength. So Richard,
here's a new stack of napkins, all I ask is that you explain the math
to me. :-) Meanwhile, I'm on a search for unobtanium tether cable.

pac