Rocket-powered space planes get approval to operate out of NZ airports

stuff.co.nz

43 points·keithnz··10 comments

There was an exnasa engineer who emigrated to NZ in the 90s and became a spaceplane guru. melenium twain? I think. My Eudora pro and later thunderbird mailbox backups are probably full of his newsletters. I'm glad to see this finally take off.

Eudora Pro.

Wow, that's a blast from the past.

Wings and landing gear are quite heavy. But flying from airport to airport brings some operational flexibilities. It's good that someone's checking this approach. Starting from fast operations and low capability is an alternative to all the others that start from high capability but slow operations...

Interesting to see the NZ space industry growing. Though I did also wonder if Peter Jackson had taken an interest in the Me-163 for his collection.

I am fairly certain nobody in his right mind would want to fly this thing under its own power. As a glider, sure.

Yes especially considering the forced labor sometimes sabotaged them in subtle ways an overhaul might not reveal, and also considering the plane seems to have killed plenty in test and training. Oh and the toxic bipropellant you don't want to be around if there's a leak or explosion. This one is probably better restored on static display.

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact...

Some people built a replica, and flew it as a glider.

Besides, a dual fuel, liquid rocket engine powered balsa-wood plane is such an unsafe design, it doesn't need a lot of sabotage to be a safety hazard.

Maximum powered endurance 7.5 minutes? Goodness.

Interesting approach using jet engines to iterate quickly.

Buran development used similar approach before.

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