World's largest plane takes flight over the Mojave desert

The largest airplane ever to take flight has made its second voyage, soaring above California's Mojave desert. Stratolaunch's massive carrier aircraft, nicknamed 'Roc', is designed to transport hypersonic vehicles and facilitate easy access to space. The company was founded by the late billionaire and Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen in 2011, and sold to private ownership in late 2019 after Allen's death.

[velocecarriola]

This is it's second successful flight, it first flew two years ago.

[renano]

Patrolling the Mojave desert almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter

[calvo]

It looks like two best friends hanging together

[vtechead]

I made one like that when I was a kid with two airfix kits and a tube of glue. Should have copyrighted my design.

[PeterWalkerHPc]

Ha! and just how many airports you going to be able to land that thing at?
ROC1 cleared for 05 R and L.

[johno]

Boarding now at gates 1 and a lot to be held together by that one small cross section of wing...

[Viscount_Castlereagh]

Will it be used to bomb the Hoover Dam?

[Jmpnb]

Last time I looked up in the sky in the Mojave was at the age of 8, and the plane was the launch of the x-15.

[sumerbc]

Looks like it could break in half in the middle pretty easy. Wouldn't want to be on board in a thunder storm turbulence.

[chipsthecat]

Antonov is still the biggest plane for me due to this plane is just literally 2 planes in one wing

[coolpeopleit]

It's really just the world's widest plane, a boeing 747 is longer and has a much bigger body.

[Tom_Hadler]

Why didn't they join the two rear horizontal tails, surely would bring more structural strength. It looks so spindly with that single wing joining the two fuselages.

[ternak]

Can it split in two mid flight? And rejoin before landing?

[coolbrocarlson]

twin planes ?

oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no

[walterlamb]

No engineer experience whatsoever, but something tells me it should be connected by more than just the wingtips, just saying!

[aruntakhar]

Where does the pilot sit. Or is it remote control

[phil]

Has no one heard there's a climate emergency? Rockets into space don't help.

[samwright]

like the spruce goose a white elephant
a design tip, join the tail plane, make the plane stronger

[itsaashish]

Do they have pilots in both the cockpits?

[juanquiroz]

Pretty sure airlines would make double the money per flights if they had these type of planes