Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Trekmail, a provider of multimedia messaging (voice email) services for cellular networks, and Nacio Systems, a co-location and managed hosting service provider, for hosting the Quicktime video clips associated with this article.

Remarks

We don’t have any good video of the rocket burn because the sun was almost directly behind Spaceship One when it was launched. If anyone has video of the launch posted online, please let us know so we can link to it.

Departing Palo Alto

Pre-flight inspection, runup and departure from Palo Alto, CA (KPAO). We flew from Palo Alto, south along the California coast to Los Angeles.

Approach and landing at Burbank

We filed IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) into Los Angeles. I flew a simulated ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach to runway 8 at Burbank (KBUR). The approach was good, but the landing wasn’t my finest.

White Knight Taxi & Takeoff

White Knight, with Spaceship One beneath its fuselage, taxis out and takes off from Mojave Airport (KMHV) shortly after 6:30am local time on Monday, June 21st6.

White Knight Climbs to 50,000 Feet

White Knight and chase planes during their climb to 50,000 feet. The sleek, swept wing aircraft at the end of the climb is a Beech Starship, another famous Rutan design.

Spaceship One Landing

Spaceship One, followed by chase planes, lands after its historic surborbital flight.

White Knight Flyby and Landing

White Knight does a victory lap around the airport and lands shortly after Spaceship One.

Returning to Palo Alto

Taxi and takeoff from Burbank, CA (KBUR). We took off in instrument conditions (2.5 miles visibility, low ceiling with haze). We broke through the cloudtops at about 3,000 feet.