If that description sounds a little odd, rest easy knowing it’s a shared sentiment: The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) describes the Proteus aircraft as “a somewhat ungainly-looking bird.” But it’s all part of the plan. It is piloted by two crew members inside a pressurized cabin. In addition, the tandem-wing Proteus has a wingspan of 77 feet, 7 inches expandable up to 92 feet with the use of optional wingtip assemblies. The Proteus PlanĪccording to Scaled Composites, the craft uses an all-composite airframe and graphite-epoxy sandwich construction. Originally designed as a telecommunications platform intended to provide high-speed internet over cities, Proteus evolved into a platform for research, including high-altitude environmental and telecommunications studies. 1998 saw the development of Scaled Composites’ Proteus, the brain child of then-president Burt Rutan. In 1960, Pan Am launched the first Boeing 747, proving that large-scale commercial air travel was not just possible but also cost-effective, according to The Museum of Flight. Less than 15 years later, propeller planes were valuable military assets and innovators like romance-novelist-turned-pilot Barbara Cartland developed new ways to launch, tow and precision-land unpowered gliders. When the Wright brothers first took to the skies in 1903, they touched off a firestorm of aviation evolution. Originally known as Scaled Composites Model 281 and designed for 100-150 flight hours, the craft has passed the 4,500-hour mark and continues to expand the limits of human aerospace knowledge.
Take, for example, Scaled Composites’ Proteus high-altitude aircraft. With all the recent attention on commercial space flight, it’s easy to overlook the innovative flight technologies that are changing the game right here on Earth.
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