rutan..... first feather test flight

[flaps]

amazing stuff
..

 

[xj220]

That's pretty cool, but I don't really understand what they're trying to do. What exactly do they mean by feather?

 

[jmcquate]

That's pretty cool, but I don't really understand what they're trying to do. What exactly do they mean by feather?

I think it has to do with the booms with the horizontal stabs rotate along the pitch axis giving it the "controlled floating" ability.

 

[Scoob]

Now that's a test pilot with some serious stones.

 

[nittany03]

The "feather" essentially cocks the empennage "up" as it would be seen on the ground, stabilizing the spacecraft and allowing for hands-off reentry. It works kind of like a shuttlecock in badminton. Then it unfeathers and flies like a conventional aircraft. Wiki has more.

 

[Flugelman]

They used a similar configuration in the SpaceShipOne flight back in 2006. You can see the tailfeathers cocked up at about 1:12 in the clip.

 

[Gatordev]

My personal favorite...their chase plane is an Extra 300. Definitely a cheaper option than a T-38 chase.

 

[yak52driver]

They used a similar configuration in the SpaceShipOne flight back in 2006. You can see the tailfeathers cocked up at about 1:12 in the clip.

I got to meet Mike Melvill shortly after this first suborbital flight. Very impressive individual and very unassuming about what he did.