Space Ship One Launch

"Pete" wrote in message
...

True. But we may never know for sure if there was another.


Agreed. I read a very plausible article some time ago which suggested
Gagarin was third.

SS1 landed first- WK did a flyby and a nice break over the runway before
landing about 10 minutes later.

--
Jim Atkins
Twentynine Palms, CA USA

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
-Groucho Marx

John H. Campbell wrote:
It is registered as a glider, it appears (N328KF),


Heh, heh. Indeed -- "engine type: none". That's rich.


but I couldn't find a Mike Melville with a glider rating in the pilot

certificate database

That's because it's spelled "Melvill", no "e" unlike the author of "Moby
Dick". Getting wrong the name of a world hero (of S. African origin)!? His
FAA listing duly shows "glider". Don't you recall that Mike did test
flights in the 1980s on the "Solitaire" which won the SSA's motorglider
design contest?

Interesting: 1400 hits for "melville rutan" and about 2000 for "melvill
rutan". No wonder I got the wrong info.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

"Jim Thomas" wrote in message
m...
I noted from the TV news reports that Mr. Melville was wearing only a
flight suit and an oxygen mask (no full or partial pressure suit).
Does anyone know whether the cockpit was pressurized? If not (and even
if so) this was pretty risky.

Jim Thomas


Burt Rutan made reference to a "shirt sleeve" environment in the
cockpit...so I guess it was pressurized.

Jay B in AZ

"Jim Atkins" wrote in message
...
SS1 landed first- WK did a flyby and a nice break over the runway before
landing about 10 minutes later.

Any report of this flight on the net?

and, what kind of aircraft is the White Knight?

Probably didn't carry an "approved " logger.
Cheers!

"Bill Daniels" wrote in message
news:UvNBc.87950$HG.37741@attbi_s53...

"John H. Campbell" wrote in message
...
It is registered as a glider, it appears (N328KF),

Heh, heh. Indeed -- "engine type: none". That's rich.

but I couldn't find a Mike Melville with a glider rating in the pilot
certificate database

That's because it's spelled "Melvill", no "e" unlike the author of "Moby
Dick". Getting wrong the name of a world hero (of S. African origin)!?
His
FAA listing duly shows "glider". Don't you recall that Mike did test
flights in the 1980s on the "Solitaire" which won the SSA's motorglider
design contest?



Hmmmm. Does this mean that a new glider attitude record has been set?
Maybe an altitude gain record too? I don't recall that the FAI is on
record
excluding altitude gain resulting from ballistic trajectories.

Bill Daniels

"Jay Beckman" wrote in message
news:5YQBc.7235$5t2.7155@fed1read01...
"Jim Thomas" wrote in message
m...
I noted from the TV news reports that Mr. Melville was wearing only a
flight suit and an oxygen mask (no full or partial pressure suit).
Does anyone know whether the cockpit was pressurized? If not (and even
if so) this was pretty risky.

Jim Thomas


Burt Rutan made reference to a "shirt sleeve" environment in the
cockpit...so I guess it was pressurized.


If he went any higher than about 55,000 feet is was.

"Pete" wrote in message
...

"Jim Atkins" wrote in message
...
Glenn and Shepard in the sense of seeing a real first-

Let's not forget Yuri in there.

And don't forget Leika, who probably had as much
say in the matter as Yuri. Even though she had twice
the number of legs, she had only a one-way ticket poor
thing.

Just that the comparison of John Glenn and Alan Shepard wasn't really
analogous to Melvil's flight. Melvil actually flew the thing and landed it.
Therefore, it was more like the X-15 pilots than the Mercury astronauts or
the cosmonauts. (usual disclaimer here about everyone being brave, etc.)



"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
ink.net...

"John Shelton" wrote in message
ink.net...

Nice write up. A correction: Not Glenn and Shephard.


What correction? Not Glenn and Shepard for what?

Jim Thomas wrote:

I noted from the TV news reports that Mr. Melville was wearing only a
flight suit and an oxygen mask (no full or partial pressure suit).
Does anyone know whether the cockpit was pressurized? If not (and even
if so) this was pretty risky.

If he wasn't in a pressure suit, the cabin had to have been pressurized or he would
not have been able to survive.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.