Oh that we may sit upon the toilet of creation, and squeeze out the first page in how many years
Antares on the Wiki
----
A few of the early birds *up* got in before the rules changed. They went through the process as Experimental Aircraft the same as any homebuild, got themselves registered and they kept their tail numbers afterwards. Ptichka is on the FAA registry. As far as I know, she can fly to any airport we can.
But there's a limit to how large a homebuild can be made - usually a question of funding or competency on the part of the builder. So why not look to an airframe already built?
If you bought yourself an 747 out of a boneyard and you managed to handwave the thing to get it off the ground again, you quickly find that a lot of doors are closed. There're a lot of places you can't bring it. A lot of people who don't want to touch it. As a fen construct intended for spaceflight, you don't need all the paperwork, licenses and tests, but, as a consequence, you have significantly fewer rights in the sky.
Years of sitting in the desert, idle and empty while being used as a parts doner don't go away. You might've patched it up and got it off the ground but - is it safe? You might think it is and the wave might make it so but, can you be sure? Did you miss something? Is there a hidden crack in a bulkhead that'll blow out and take the tail off?
Even if you spend a little more to get a fresh, certified still-airworthy aircraft finishing up its airline service, the moment you touch it, change it, work on it, fit non-standard parts or try to handwash it, all that certification evapourates. It becomes an unknown quantity. The aviation world hates unknown quantities.
Because we don't know you are safe - because you can't prove it - you're restricted to specific, segregated routes, into and out of specific spaceports, and specific areas far away from other traffic or built up areas. Once you leave the space world and enter the aviation world, you quickly realise that you're a second or even third-class citizen. We assume you don't know how to talk to ATC properly, or properly follow instructions so we put you somewhere where you won't blunder into an airliner while trying not to blunder into an airliner.
You can add more paperwork. Get yourself licenses, and up your competencies. You can register your salvaged jumbo as an Experimental aircraft, or as a Space Shuttle, and you get some more rights. You can now land at more places, join more air-routes and even mingle with actual traffic and take up your slot of airspace. You're telling the aviation world that you're taking it seriously, you're not an idiot and you're not going to be reckless and get innocent people hurt in a very dangerous environment, so doors start opening. You have paperwork to say you're in good order, you've maintained your ship and you know how to talk to the traffic controllers and follow instruction. You won't do anything foolish.
But, you're still under a lot of restrictions. A Private Pilot in a Cessna has more rights than you. They can fly in to the same public airports all the big-iron does should they feel like doing it - provided they call ahead to get worked into the traffic and pay the handling fees.
All that means, if you want to run cargo between Earth and Space - there're very few places in the world that are open to that, and those that are, are well aware of that fact. It's either very crowded, or very expensive.
Antares is an Airliner. It is factory-built from day one, on a manufacturer's type certificate. Boeing has certified it The FAA has issued it its airworthiness certificate. When it asks for permission to land, The aviation world knows exactly what it is, and how to handle it. Airports and ATC know exactly what a Boeing 747 is.
The hard part is keeping that paperwork current. Spare parts have to be approved. Maintenance has to be certified by competent mechanics. It doesn't take much for it all to evapourate. You have to play by the rules.
Those rules are hard and inflexible. Many are written in blood, dictated by the last few seconds of a flight data recorder. In exchange for playing by those rules - Antares also has all the rights of a 747 freighter.
Antares on the Wiki
----
A few of the early birds *up* got in before the rules changed. They went through the process as Experimental Aircraft the same as any homebuild, got themselves registered and they kept their tail numbers afterwards. Ptichka is on the FAA registry. As far as I know, she can fly to any airport we can.
But there's a limit to how large a homebuild can be made - usually a question of funding or competency on the part of the builder. So why not look to an airframe already built?
If you bought yourself an 747 out of a boneyard and you managed to handwave the thing to get it off the ground again, you quickly find that a lot of doors are closed. There're a lot of places you can't bring it. A lot of people who don't want to touch it. As a fen construct intended for spaceflight, you don't need all the paperwork, licenses and tests, but, as a consequence, you have significantly fewer rights in the sky.
Years of sitting in the desert, idle and empty while being used as a parts doner don't go away. You might've patched it up and got it off the ground but - is it safe? You might think it is and the wave might make it so but, can you be sure? Did you miss something? Is there a hidden crack in a bulkhead that'll blow out and take the tail off?
Even if you spend a little more to get a fresh, certified still-airworthy aircraft finishing up its airline service, the moment you touch it, change it, work on it, fit non-standard parts or try to handwash it, all that certification evapourates. It becomes an unknown quantity. The aviation world hates unknown quantities.
Because we don't know you are safe - because you can't prove it - you're restricted to specific, segregated routes, into and out of specific spaceports, and specific areas far away from other traffic or built up areas. Once you leave the space world and enter the aviation world, you quickly realise that you're a second or even third-class citizen. We assume you don't know how to talk to ATC properly, or properly follow instructions so we put you somewhere where you won't blunder into an airliner while trying not to blunder into an airliner.
You can add more paperwork. Get yourself licenses, and up your competencies. You can register your salvaged jumbo as an Experimental aircraft, or as a Space Shuttle, and you get some more rights. You can now land at more places, join more air-routes and even mingle with actual traffic and take up your slot of airspace. You're telling the aviation world that you're taking it seriously, you're not an idiot and you're not going to be reckless and get innocent people hurt in a very dangerous environment, so doors start opening. You have paperwork to say you're in good order, you've maintained your ship and you know how to talk to the traffic controllers and follow instruction. You won't do anything foolish.
But, you're still under a lot of restrictions. A Private Pilot in a Cessna has more rights than you. They can fly in to the same public airports all the big-iron does should they feel like doing it - provided they call ahead to get worked into the traffic and pay the handling fees.
All that means, if you want to run cargo between Earth and Space - there're very few places in the world that are open to that, and those that are, are well aware of that fact. It's either very crowded, or very expensive.
Antares is an Airliner. It is factory-built from day one, on a manufacturer's type certificate. Boeing has certified it The FAA has issued it its airworthiness certificate. When it asks for permission to land, The aviation world knows exactly what it is, and how to handle it. Airports and ATC know exactly what a Boeing 747 is.
The hard part is keeping that paperwork current. Spare parts have to be approved. Maintenance has to be certified by competent mechanics. It doesn't take much for it all to evapourate. You have to play by the rules.
Those rules are hard and inflexible. Many are written in blood, dictated by the last few seconds of a flight data recorder. In exchange for playing by those rules - Antares also has all the rights of a 747 freighter.
Oh sweet meteor of death
Fall upon us.
Deliver us in fire
To Peace everlasting.
Fall upon us.
Deliver us in fire
To Peace everlasting.