View Single Post
  #6  
Old October 15th 05, 06:15 PM
Pat Flannery
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Russo-Aussie venture to challenge Virgin?

snidely wrote:

It appears there's a challenge to Virgin Galactic, being done by a
Russian-Australian joint venture. Cute little spaceplane involved.



That carrier aircraft has an interesting history behind it- it's an
evolved version of an aircraft called "Subject 34" or "Chaika" (Seagull)
designed to destroy high altitude reconnaissance balloons that the CIA
was sending over the Soviet Union by using a remote-controlled dorsal
gun turret or missiles against them.
It then became a high altitude reconnaissance plane before it's present
incarnation.
It well be interesting to see how the spaceplane gets attached to it, as
the fuselage sits very close to the ground, and launch from the top of
the aircraft is probably not a good idea due to the position of the
horizontal fin on top of the vertical stabilizers.
You can read up on the Chaika and the balloons he
http://worldatwar.net/chandelle/v4/v4n1-2/balloons.html

Pat