White Knight
White Knight One
General information
Type	Mother ship
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Scaled Composites
Status	Retired
Number built	1
History
First flight	August 1, 2002
Retired	2014
Developed from	Scaled Composites Proteus
Developed into	Scaled Composites White Knight Two

TheScaled Composites Model 318 White Knight (now also calledWhite Knight One) is a jet-powered carrier aircraft that was used to launch its companionSpaceShipOne, an experimentalspaceplane. The White Knight and SpaceShipOne were designed byBurt Rutan and manufactured byScaled Composites, a private company founded by Rutan in 1982. On three separate flights in 2004, White Knight conducted SpaceShipOne into flight, and SpaceShipOne then performed asub-orbital spaceflight, becoming the first private craft to reach space.

The White Knight is notable as an example of amother ship which carried aparasite aircraft into flight, releasing the latter which would then execute a high-altitude flight, or a sub-orbital spaceflight. This flight profile is shared withThe High and Mighty One andBalls 8, two modifiedB-52s which carried theNorth American X-15 into flight. It is also shared withWhite Knight Two, a descendant which carriesSpaceShipTwo into flight as part of theVirgin Galactic fleet.

Following the SpaceShipOne flights, the White Knight was contracted for drop tests of theBoeing X-37 spaceplane, from June 2005 until April 2006. The White Knight was retired from service in 2014, and is in the inventory of theFlying Heritage Collection.

TheScaled Composites model number for White Knight is318. White Knight is registered with theFederal Aviation Administration as N318SL.^[1]

The White Knight carrier airplane was designed around the twin afterburningGeneral Electric J85 engines, which were selected for their availability and low cost. The aircraft was a completely new independent design. White Knight and SpaceShipOne shared the same forward fuselageouter mold line (OML) to reduce development costs and with the original intent to allow for White Knight to act as a flying simulator for training SpaceShipOne pilots. White Knight first flew on August 1, 2002. The flight was aborted shortly after takeoff due to a problem with the outboard wing spoilers. These trailing edge spoilers were designed to greatly increase the glide slope so that the White Knight vehicle could act as a flying simulator for training of SpaceShipOne pilots. During the first flight, the mechanical over-center torque was insufficient to maintain the spoilers in the closed position. The spoilers deployed into the free stream and began alimit cycle forcing the pilot (Mike Melvill) to abort. The spoilers were subsequently disabled completely and the desire for a steep glide slope matching SpaceShipOne was abandoned.

White Knight next flew on August 5, 2002, and this time performed well. Development proceeded over the next few months. With White Knight developed and evaluated, on April 18, 2003, White Knight and SpaceShipOne were presented to the media.

Subsequently, White Knight flew as part of the Tier One program that won theAnsari X Prize on October 4, 2004.

Afterwards, White Knight was used to carry and launchDARPA's experimentalX-37 spaceplane for its approach and landing tests in 2005 and 2006.

It was followed up by theWhite Knight Two, which has a similar but larger design.

Flights of White Knight are numbered, starting with flight 1 on August 1, 2002. Flights where SpaceShipOne was carried also get one or two appended letters. An appended "C" indicates that the flight was a captive carry, and "L" indicates that SpaceShipOne was launched. If the flight actually flown differs in category from the intended flight, then two letters are appended, the first giving the intended mission and the second the mission actually performed.

White Knight was contracted to perform both captive carry and drop test flights of the DARPA/Boeing X-37. First captive carry flight was on June 21, 2005, and first drop was on April 7, 2006 (the X-37 was subsequently damaged on landing atEdwards Air Force Base). Initially, the flights originated from Mojave, but following the landing incident, the program was moved to Air ForcePlant 42 inPalmdale, California, and at least five subsequent flights were made there.

In late 2006, White Knight flew a seven-flight test program of theadaptive compliant wing developed by FlexSys Inc. with funding by theAir Force Research Laboratory. A laminar flow test article was mounted vertically under White Knight's centerline pylon for the 20-flight-hour research program that tested the flexible wing's aerodynamic characteristics.^[2][3]

In July 2014 White Knight made its final planned flight, arriving atPaine Field in Everett, Washington, to become part of theFlying Heritage Collection.^[4]

Data from Scaled Composites^[5][6]

General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Capacity: 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) payload
• Wingspan: 83 ft (25 m)
• Empty weight: 6,360 lb (2,885 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 18,000 lb (8,165 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 6,400 lb (2,900 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 ×General Electric J85-GE-5 afterburning turbojet, 2,400 lbf (11 kN) thrust each dry, 3,600 lbf (16 kN) with afterburner

Performance

• Service ceiling: 53,000 ft (16,000 m)

• Carriage and launch of payloads up to 7,000 lb (3,200 kg)
• Altitude capability above 53,000 ft
• Large, three-place cabin (60 in (1,524 mm) diameter outside, 59 in (1,499 mm) inside)
• Sea level cabin qualified for unlimited altitude
• ECS scrubs CO₂, removes humidity and defogs windows
• Two crew doors with dual seals and dual-pane windows
• Manual flight controls with three-axis electric trim
• Avionics include INS-GPS navigator, flight-director, flight test data (recording and T/M), air-data, vehicle health monitoring, backup flight instruments, and video system
• The 82 ft (25 m) wing can be extended to 93 ft (28 m) for increased climb capability
• Super-effective, pneumatic speed brakes allow steep descent with L/D < 4.5
• Hydraulic wheel brakes and nose-gear steering
• Pneumatic main gear retraction
• Dual-bus electrical power system
• Cockpit allows single-pilot operation (VMC-day conditions only)

• Flying aircraft carrier
• Conroy Virtus
• Lockheed twin-body C-5 Shuttle Carrier proposal
• Scaled Composites Proteus
• Scaled Composites Stratolaunch

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWhite Knight.

• Scaled Composites' Tier One websiteArchived 2018-04-07 at theWayback Machine
• White Knight's FAA registration
• WhiteKnight to launch X-37 test flights

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• SpaceShipOne
• Scaled Composites
• Scaled Composites Tier One
• 2000s United States experimental aircraft
• Twin-boom aircraft
• Aircraft first flown in 2002
• Aircraft related to spaceflight

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