Deuce PR Tour OKG->KSC

C7 Aerospace says plans are finalized to break ground in Oct for surface airports @ Sheltered Rock & Ockr, due to be completed in 3 months

with a successful end to initial flight trials C7 will spend weeks pouring over reams of test data, but results are so promising they've already scheduled it for a Public Relations tour starting next week to also gather additional data

Jeb & Val are pre-flighting, done with their stay at Ockr and ready to come back to KSC on what will be the longest flight yet for the Deuce and possibly for a fixed-wing aircraft in general. More record breaking!

ready to taxi, they will depart from Rwy27, which is an uphill run. Despite the flight distance they are only carrying 400kg of fuel (max 2t), which should be enough for 30min extra flight time. Point is, they are light and the uphill run at high altitude shouldn't be a problem

and they're away! The westward roll allowed spectators an up-close view as the Deuce roared off the end of the runway at just 74m/s but Jeb, in the pilot seat, reports they have positive rate of climb

cruising at 3.5km ASL Jeb will maintain this until they clear the mountainous region surrounding Ockr and then descend down to 1.5km in order to setup for their observation of bit.ly/Area_WP-VK

Val, working comms and navigation in the right seat, has signed off with Ockr as they descend and terrain cuts off the signal. They will make contact with KSC in the next hour or so if everything goes according to the flight plan they filed

we've just been hailed by Val as the Deuce clears the horizon to the northeast, they're up at 7.5km ASL and got there at a much less aggressive pace that sees them still traveling at ~120m/s full thrust (they were doing only ~85m/s @ 7.5km flying KGA-SRG last week)

80km out Jeb has cut throttle to begin descent from 7.6km, says nevermind about the extra safety of having a second pilot to control the aircraft - having someone to chat with on the long flight was the real benefit

winds are strong out of the southeast, Deuce is on its downwind leg at 4km ASL to land Rwy09. Jeb, who has flown since takeoff, has retired and handed control over to Val for landing

welcome home, crew! With only just under half their fuel burned, Val brought the Deuce in for a smooth landing and is taxiing to the HAB where crews are ready to swarm it and spend the remainder of this week seeing how it handled these past two weeks of heavy flying

time to chillax and enjoy the weekend! Head over to bit.ly/OpSummary1-29-… (link verified! Sorry about last week) to check out details on this week's Deuce PR tour and the latest news from the Progenitor team on the Mk6