Exclusive: Pilots of World’s Largest Airplane Reveal Flight Details

Monday, January 17, 2022 at 12:11 PM ET

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The world’s largest airplane flew a low approach about 100 feet off the runway during Sunday’s test flight, Stratolaunch said. [Courtesy: Stratolaunch]

Key Takeaways:

The Stratolaunch Roc, the world's largest airplane, successfully completed its third test flight, expanding its flight envelope to 23,500 feet and 180 kias.
This flight marked pilot Mark Giddings' first time in the left seat, where he executed challenging low approaches and successfully demonstrated the in-flight operation of landing gear doors and a mid-main gear retraction/extension.
The mission also evaluated the aircraft's yaw augmentation system and utilized crucial chase plane support for verifying gear performance.
Future plans for Roc include more test flights, installing a pylon to carry hypersonic test vehicles, and launching its first hypersonic test vehicle later this year.

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For spectators on the ground, watching a 500,000 pound, six-engined, twin-fuselage jet fly a low approach about 100 feet above the runway was thrilling, to say the least. But for Stratolaunch pilot Mark “Gidro” Giddings, who was flying left seat in the world’s largest airplane, it was the result of months of simulator practice and years of experience.

Giddings, along with co-pilot Evan Thomas and flight engineer Jake Riley, successfully completed Sunday’s third test flight of the world’s largest airplane—nicknamed Roc—which is scheduled to begin air-launching hypersonic test vehicles later this year.