Over 30
Different Payloads
Model No.
355
First Flight
February 9, 2010
The Model 355 Old School, originally designed and built by Scaled Composites as the Firebird Demonstrator for Northrop Grumman, is a full-scale proof-of-concept demonstrator operating as a Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) payload testbed.
This optionally piloted, twin boom-bronco tail, pusher configuration aircraft is an example of the fast-prototyping Scaled excels at. From contract signature, through design, build, and then test, we reached first flight of the aircraft in 11 months.
Several design decisions determined the unique loft of this aircraft – with an intent to carry sensor payloads, the far-aft wing and booms support a layout with wide fields of regard for sensors to be carried beneath the fuselage. It was also designed with potential ground transit in mind: several planned seams on the aircraft give us the ability to take it apart, store it in a 40-foot sea container to transport elsewhere, then reassemble.
One design decision made a significant change in the aircraft early on: the demonstrator was initially intended to be a UAV, but Scaled understood that getting the aircraft to flight test with a pilot to prove the concept would be faster without the wait for a Vehicle Management System (VMS) to be ready. By reevaluating the mission needs, Scaled designed an optionally-manned aircraft and was quickly able to get the aircraft to flight and start collecting test data: for the first flight and envelope expansion flights, Old School operated as a manned vehicle.
Autonomous flights were later demonstrated in January of 2011 with a Safety Pilot on board – during autonomous operations, the Safety Pilot engages the VMS Autopilot at different points of the flight to enter the next operation mode and can provide range flexibility by readjusting to new locations mid-flight before handing control back to the VMS for mission operations.
Old School has a large internal payload bay with the ability to operate multiple intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and communications payloads simultaneously.
Old School has demonstrated multiple configurations operating several different payloads for hundreds of hours – in addition to utilizing the internal payload bay, equipment has flown on top of and below the fuselage, attached to the booms, and even connected to the wings. Old School demonstrated the effectiveness of a universal interface and flexibility with payloads during the Empire Challenge in 2011 by flying three different payload configurations in one day.
Old School is owned and operated by Scaled Composites, LLC.
Different Payloads
Fact 01/03
Flight Time
Fact 02/03
Flights
Fact 03/03