*Pictures on this website containing Talon-A have been cleared for public release by Stratolaunch
Advancing Air-Launched Hypersonic Technology
Stratolaunch owns and operates the world’s largest aircraft by wingspan - Roc. Currently, Roc is being used to launch a hypersonic test bed, Talon-A. The mission of Talon-A is to be dropped from Roc, boost up to speeds in excess of mach 5, and then land like an airplane and be recovered for more missions.
During my time at Stratolaunch, I worked on a variety of disciplines on all Talon-A vehicles and Roc including flight test planning and execution, systems level testing, propulsion mechanical design, propulsion analysis, component level testing, and flying support aircraft.
TA2
TA2 was the company’s first fully reusable, hypersonic, Talon-A vehicle.
As the TA2 test lead, I marshalled a team of engineers and technicians through a rigorous developmental ground test campaign to take this vehicle from an untested aircraft freshly built to a fully flight ready aircraft.
I authored, reviewed, and/or executed over 20 complex systems-level tests which included propulsion, flight controls, electrical, flight computer, landing gear, brakes, and instrumentation.
This video, “Prepping for TA2”, shows a snippet of the work that went into ensuring mission readiness and success on TA2
TA1
TA1 was the first powered Talon vehicle. It was powered by the Ursa Major Hadley (LOX/Kerosene) liquid rocket engine. The aircraft boosted up to high supersonic speeds approaching mach 5 and was intentionally expended in the ocean.
I designed, supported the build, and led the test effort on multiple propulsion subsystems on TA1. In addition to planning and executing multiple integrated propulsion ground tests, I sat on console as primary "Talon Propulsion" during all captive carry flights and the eventual drop flight of TA1 in the mission control center.
TA0
TA0 was a separation test vehicle used demonstrate safe separation from Roc and included a fully functional flight computer, flight controls, and inert propulsion system.
I designed and supported the build of a number of propulsion subsystems on this vehicle and supported the flight tests as secondary "Talon Propulsion" in the mission control center.
Chase Pilot
Between supporting the Talon-A vehicles, I was qualified to fly our CE-550 chase aircraft and supported the first TA2 captive carry mission in the safety chase role.
