Sun, Jun 21, 2009
Aero-News: Quote of the Day
ANN's Quote of the Day usually
derives from current news, though we reserve the right to pick
quotes out of history that have a bearing on the day's events and
issues.
Sometimes, you'll find them timely and in keeping with the
content of the day's news... and sometimes, they'll just be
thought-provoking.
Reader suggestions and comments are welcome... and if
particularly intriguing, timely, or poignant, may themselves
become future Quotes of the Day.
Let us hear from you, folks!
Aero-News Quote of the Day
"Cheered down the runway by onlookers, the White Knight
turbojet launch aircraft took off at 647 a.m. PST, carrying
SpaceShipOne under its fuselage to an altitude of 47,000 feet. At
750 a.m. PST, flight engineer Matt Stinemetz released the spaceship
and test pilot Mike Melville immediately fired the hybrid rocket
motor. The rocket burn lasted for 76 seconds rocketing the vehicle
to more than 2.9 Mach or 2150 miles an hour. At motor burn out,
SpaceShipOne was at 180,000 feet and from there coasted the rest of
the way into space reaching an apogee of 328,491 feet. Melvill
experienced weightlessness for approximately 3 minutes as the
vehicle slowly decelerated to apogee and then yielding to the pull
of gravity commenced its historic return to earth in the craft's
unique entry or feathered configuration. During the descent the
pilot experienced forces greater than 5.0 G's as the vehicle
accelerated again to 2.9 Mach. Melvill reconfigured the vehicle
back to a glider at 57,000 feet and over the next 20 minutes
enjoyed a leisurely descent to a graceful landing at Mojave, the
Nation's first inland Space Port."
Source: From the June 21st, 2004 Mission
Summary of the First Sub-Orbital Flight of SpaceShipOne -- five
years ago today.
More News
From 2021: The Inside Skinny On What Being An ANN Oshkosh Stringer Is All About By ANN Senior Stringer Extraordinare, Gene Yarbrough The annual gathering at Oshkosh is a right of p>[...]
Pilot Asked The Mechanic To Go For A Test Flight Around The Airport Traffic Pattern With Him For A Touch-And-Go Landing, And Then A Full-Stop Landing On May 7, 2025, about 1600 eas>[...]
From 2010 (YouTube Edition): Skiles Reflects On His Ring-Side Seat To An Historic Event Jeff Skiles, First Officer of US Airways Flight 1549, "The Miracle on the Hudson," was the g>[...]
“The FAA conducted a comprehensive safety review of the SpaceX Starship Flight 8 mishap and determined that the company has satisfactorily addressed the causes of the mishap,>[...]
Fuel Remaining A phrase used by either pilots or controllers when relating to the fuel remaining on board until actual fuel exhaustion. When transmitting such information in respon>[...]
Oshkosh Memories: An Aero-News Stringer Perspective
See All