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’s Werelds grootste vliegtuig Stratolaunch Roc
January 17, 2023 - With a wingspan of 117 metres, the world’s largest aircraft, the Stratolaunch Roc, has made a record-breaking six hour test flight in California.
Named after an enormous mythical bird said to be so big it could carry full-grown elephants, the Roc was designed to enable air-launching of hypersonic vehicles for rapid and iterative testing, and eventually for affordable access to space.
Its high wings and unique dual hull design, in which the pilot and co-pilot occupy the right fuselage and the flight data systems the left, allows safer under-wing launches from a central position. Stratolaunch plan to carry out the first “drop test” release of their prototype hypersonic vehicle Talon-A from the Roc later in 2023.