Scaled Composites flew the second copy of its single-engine-jet, Model 401, for the first time, on Wednesday, the company has announced. “As a proof-of-concept, rapid-prototyping company, it is very rare when we get to build more than one of the same type of aircraft,” the company posted on Facebook. Scaled built two identical single-engine jets to demonstrate for an unnamed customer their “advanced, low-cost manufacturing techniques” for the production of research aircraft for industry and government, the company said. The first one flew in October.
The experimental aircraft are each equipped with a single Pratt & Whitney JTD-15D-5D engine, with 3,045 pounds of thrust, the company said. They can fly at speeds up to Mach 0.6 with a service ceiling of 30,000 feet, according to Scaled.
