Photo taken from video on chase plane.

SpaceShipOne interior view.

Feather/reentry mode at apogee.

Glide mode.

SpaceShipOne Goes Supersonic
CALIFORNIA CITY, California (December 17, 2003) A significant milestone was achieved by Scaled Composites: The first manned supersonic flight by an aircraft developed by a small company's private, non-government effort.

In 1947, fifty-six years ago, history's first supersonic flight was flown by Chuck Yeager in the Bell X-1 rocket under a U.S. Government research program. Since then, many supersonic aircraft have been developed for research, military and, in the case of the recently retired Concorde, commercial applications. All these efforts were developed by large aerospace prime companies, using extensive government resources.

The flight this morning by SpaceShipOne demonstrated that supersonic flight is now the domain of a small company doing privately-funded research, without government help. The flight also represents an important milestone in our efforts to demonstrate that truly low-cost space access is feasible.

The White Knight turbojet launch aircraft, flown by Test Pilot Peter Siebold, carried research rocket plane SpaceShipOne to 48,000 feet altitude, near the desert town of California City. At 8:15 a.m. PDT, Cory Bird, the White Knight Flight Engineer, pulled a handle to release SpaceShipOne. SpaceShipOne Test Pilot, Brian Binnie then flew the ship to a stable, 0.55 mach gliding flight condition, started a pull-up, and fired its hybrid rocket motor. Nine seconds later, SpaceShipOne broke the sound barrier and continued its steep powered ascent. The climb was very aggressive, accelerating forward at more than 3-g while pulling upward at more than 2.5-g. At motor shutdown, 15 seconds after ignition, SpaceShipOne was climbing at a 60-degree angle and flying near 1.2 Mach (930 mph). Brian then continued the maneuver to a vertical climb, achieving zero speed at an altitude of 68,000 feet. He then configured the ship in its high-drag "feathered" shape to simulate the condition it will experience when it enters the atmosphere after a space flight. At apogee, SpaceShipOne was in near-weightless conditions, emulating the characteristics it will later encounter during the planned space flights in which it will be at zero-g for more than three minutes. After descending in feathered flight for about a minute, Brian reconfigured the ship to its conventional glider shape and flew a 12-minute glide to landing at Scaled's home airport of Mojave. The landing was not without incident as the left landing gear retracted at touchdown causing the ship to veer to the left and leave the runway with its left wing down. Damage from the landing incident was minor and will easily be repaired. There were no injuries.

The milestone of private supersonic flight was not an easy task. It involved the development of a new propulsion system, the first rocket motor developed for manned space flights in several decades. The new hybrid motor was developed in-house at Scaled with first firings in November 2002. The motor uses an ablative nozzle supplied by AAE and operating components supplied by SpaceDev. FunTech teamed with Scaled to develop a new Inertial Navigation flight director. The first flight of the White Knight launch aircraft was in August 2002 and SpaceShipOne began its glide tests in August 2003.

Scaled does not pre-announce the specific flight test plans for its manned space program, however completed accomplishments are updated as they happen at our website: http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/index.htm The website also provides downloadable photos and technical descriptions of the rocket motor system and motor test hardware.

(Reprinted from Scaled Composites' Press Release, photos courtesy of www.scaled.com)

Great News! Sport Pilot Leaves DOT for OMB
Christmas came early to the aviation community when Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta signed off on the sport pilot/light-sport aircraft rulemaking package and forwarded it to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) late on Tuesday, December 23.

“This is great news, as it completes an important step to make sport pilot/light-sport aircraft a reality,” said EAA President Tom Poberezny. “My compliments to FAA and DOT for their hard work in getting this important task accomplished. EAA and the aviation community have been looking forward to this important announcement as the rulemaking package enters its final phase.”

OMB now has 90 days in which to review and return the package to the FAA, at which time it would be published in the Federal Register as a final rule.

Pilot Quotes...on flying.
When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.

Without ammunition, the USAF would be just another expensive flying club.

What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, the pilot dies.

Never trade luck for skill.

The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are: "Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" and "Oh S#!+!"

Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers.

Progress in airline flying; now a flight attendant can get a pilot pregnant.

A Special Message From EAA President Tom Poberezny:
(December 19, 2003) This week was one that has been unmatched in EAA’s history and memorable for all aviation enthusiasts. The past few days at the Wright Brothers National Monument in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, with EAA’s Countdown to Kitty Hawk activities culminated a yearlong celebration of powered flight. The activities were exciting and emotional, bringing together aviation enthusiasts from around the world to the place where it all started 100 years ago.

The feeling I received from many in attendance was that they just HAD to be at Kitty Hawk for this event, and over the five days, nearly 100,000 of them were there. It speaks to the power of the moment that on Wednesday, despite driving rain all day, only 800 of the 35,000 tickets sold went unused.

What really captivated me was not so much the December 17 flight attempts, but the anticipation of that moment. To see thousands of people sitting on the side of the large hill at the memorial and staying there through the rainy day shows what this event meant to everyone. Millions more watched on television, including hundreds at the AirVenture Museum.

When the EAA Wright Flyer entered the circle on Wednesday, and started its engines, the mood was positively electric. It was a moment that was nearly indescribable. While it was a disappointment that the airplane did not fly as all hoped that day, the original goal of the program had been reached successfully. EAA and The Wright Experience sought to create a truly authentic reproduction of the Wright brothers’ first successful airplane, fly it, and bring it to Kitty Hawk on the 100th anniversary of powered flight. All of those things occurred, as the Flyer had earlier flown successfully at the National Memorial. We proved that the Wrights’ efforts were true and that they could be duplicated. Never before had an authentic reproduction made such an attempt at Kitty Hawk.

On Wednesday, the conditions were such that if Wilbur and Orville had seen them on December 17, 1903, they wouldn’t have flown that day. We knew we were on the bottom end of the Flyer’s performance range. The rains brought heavy, moist air and winds barely reached the minimum speeds of 10-12 mph. On the second and final attempt, the winds died to less than 5 mph, never giving us a chance to run the airplane down the railing. Despite that, we believed it was important to make attempts to fly the airplane. December 17 was the only day it was possible to make those commemorative attempts, not only to keep it historically accurate, but much of the infrastructure, volunteer base, security and other logistics could not be held past that day.

Everyone involved made an incredible effort to make it happen. I personally thank all of them for their tireless work, not only this week but over the past few years. In addition, I sincerely thank our partners in EAA’s Countdown to Kitty Hawk: Ford Motor Company, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Eclipse Aviation and Northrop Grumman. They had the vision and were true partners every step of the way, supplying the support and resources necessary for such a project.

EAA has been very proud to be the leader of this celebration, throughout the entire year and especially at Kitty Hawk. Matched with the programs such as “50 Flags to Kitty Hawk” and EAA’s Centennial Homebuilts, as well as local EAA celebrations in many locations, it has been something that I will never forget. Being there this week, with thousands of people who love flight because of what it means to their lives, reminded me a little of the people who come to Oshkosh each summer. This week, we honored two separate but equally important things: The history that has been made, as well as the history that will be made in the years to come. (Reprinted from e-HOT LINE Vol. 3 No. 59)

About the Data Sheets
Please make sure you fill in all of the information that you would like us to have about you: your skills; certs; aircraft etc. When I have computer problems—these forms are indispensable in reconstructing information that may get lost. If you have not submitted a sheet or your sheet says information is “same as last year”, well I don’t have last years sheet so you may not get back into the data base in case of a computer crash. In order to make my VOLUNTEER job easier I dispose of previous years sheets and use the present year sheet to update our roster. Again folks, it really only takes you a minute or two to complete these sheets once a year. Please help make my VOLUNTEER job easier.
Joanne Warner

PAISA GAPA
Some of you have been reading and enjoying the ATC area notes by Bill Czervinske and you’ve asked, “What is a PAISA GAPA, and if I catch it, will I die?” For those of you who have not yet been exposed, let me assure you, not only will you not die, but it might even extend your life. PAISA GAPA was born about four years ago with the merger of two pilot groups. You guessed it, PAISA and GAPA. PAISA was the Professional Aircraft Instructors of San Antonio and GAPA was the General Aviation Pilots Association. These two groups merged and they had a contest to come up with an easy to remember name for the new group. Nobody won that contest, so we are PAISA GAPA.

Bill Czervinske, pronounce it just like it’s spelled, is a tireless slave to the cause of aviation safety. Every month he polls the tower chiefs, the airport managers, the Flight Service Staion and the FBOs to put together his safety article. He is a safety counselor for the FSDO and a retired tower chief. Bill knows the technical side of all that makes up the airspace around San Antonio and he also has a keen understanding of the human factors that can make or break the system. His wealth of experience makes him a tremendous resource for all of us.

The group meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00pm at the Hallmark FBO on Wetmore adjacent to San Antonio International. Each month we have an opening discussion about area aviation events, navaids that are out of service, problems the tower may have noticed with communications, Randolph flight patterns, difficulties with procedures at either Stinson or SAT, and other local safety topics.

We will then have a program lasting 45 minutes to an hour on an aviation safety topic. Last month was an AOPA seminar in a box about scud running and decision making. In January we will have Eric Treland. His program will be, “Is It Ariworthy?” airworthiness from the pilot’s perspective. Eric is a Safety Counselor for the SAT FSDO and the program manager for USAF Aero Clubs world wide. He holds ATP, Multi Engine Land, Commercial, and Single Engine Sea. He has flown and instructed in the T-33, T-37, T-38, F-106, and F-15. This will be a good program.

I should mention that this group does not charge dues to anyone and is open to all who have an interest in aviation safety. If you live close to SAT stop on in. I have heard of a similar group in New Braunfels, but I do not have the particulars. If anyone knows their schedule, send it in to the newsletter, please.

Steve Carlson