Re: Scaled Composites latest flight

Sander Pool wrote:
> Pretty damn awesome that's what that was. And the pilot has some brass
> ones too taking Spaceship One up that high with a faulty control panel.
> Or maybe he has a little too much of 'the right stuff'?

No, just contingency plans, thought out well in advance.  I know 
that in planning Sphinx and Xerus flight profiles, we've considered 
what to do if the EFIS shuts down at any point; for some conditions 
you shut down immediately and abort the mission, for others you just 
fly it by partial panel and the view out the windows.  In the case 
of SS1 the multiple portholes probably serve as good reference 
points for attitude control, much like the triangular reference 
assemblies on the wingtips of competition aerobatic planes.

Simulation is your *friend*.

Doug