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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Plane Passes Milestone at High Altitude

Scaled Composites’ aircraft known as Proteus wasn’t supposed to last for more than a year or two. But since its first flight, the plane made entirely from carbon fiber has logged more than 4,000 flight hours under its wings. Scaled recently celebrated the craft’s 1,000th flight. The Mojave aerospace company, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp, is best known for building experimental aircraft. Usually companies retain Scaled to prove concept designs and prototypes for a limited time before moving onto large-scale manufacturing or scrapping the projects. Proteus was designed by Scaled founder Burt Rutan with the goal of testing if an aircraft could function as a high-altitude communications relay station. However, the aircraft proved so functional and versatile that it prompted Scaled to break from its usual business model and rent out Proteus for research missions. “It’s unique because we designed and manufactured it, and we also operate the aircraft,” said Sam Henney, project engineer for Proteus, who was just a kid when the plane first flew in 1998. “We, as the operator, have a lot of flexibility to adapt the plane to customer needs.” Clients include NASA, Sandia National Laboratory, and defense contractors such as Raytheon. Proteus is designed to carry payloads of 2,000 pounds to altitudes above 50,000 feet and remain there for up to 14 hours. During its career, Proteus has measured atmospheric radiation, checked ocean data, studied cloud formation and collected atmospheric samples from all over world, all while testing some top-secret proprietary technologies. In 2000, Proteus set three world records for aircraft in its weight class, including the high altitude record at 63,245 feet and highest sustained horizontal flight at 62,385 feet. “Anytime a company wants to test something at a high altitude, it (Proteus) is a really good option because it’s easy to integrate at a low cost,” said Henney. Since Scaled is both the manufacturer and operator of the craft, companies can use Proteus to bypass obtaining additional Federal Aviation Administration certifications that would be required if a craft were built from scratch, Henny added. Proteus can be customized for specific assignments. It has removable wingtips and expandable wingspan that can extend up to 92 feet. On-board experiments have tested high-altitude lasers, ground sensors and electrical generators attached to jet engines. While the aircraft was originally designed to carry a crew of two, it has developed unmanned capabilities. However, unmanned flights can require upwards of 40 people in the control room, and Henney said it can be a costly option. Henney said Proteus has customers booked solid for at least another couple of years. Despite the high demand, Henney said that there are no future plans to develop Proteus 2, unless there are additional funds. Proteus will continue as a one-of-a-kind craft in the aerospace industry. – Iris Lee

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