ACG Contribute Composite Prepreg Materials to GlobalFlyer Project

The GlobalFlyer project, due to fly around the world on an historic solo flight, is set to launch on February 2nd with the aid of materials provided by the Advanced Composites Group.

Virgin Atlantic unveiled the Scaled Composites designed and built GlobalFlyer January 8 2004. GlobalFlyer has completed eighteen test flights and the team is now ready and waiting for a good weather forecast in order that the countdown can begin. It has recently been revealed that Salina Municipal Airport in Kansas, USA will be the base and the launch site for GlobalFlyer’s record attempt to fly non-stop around the world.

The main structures of this 35m wingspan aircraft were manufactured entirely using LTM45 series composite prepreg materials provided by Advanced Composites Group Inc. These materials are ideal for such one-off projects because of their low temperature, out-of-autoclave cure capabilities and have proved their performance on other aircraft built by Scaled Composites.

The structure is mainly carbon fibre and epoxy, with stiff carbon fibres used in the construction of the craft’s long wings, with the skin being a sandwich made from carbon and epoxy with aramid honeycomb.

Last October, Scaled Composites built SpaceShipOne, which successfully carried two passengers into space and met all the conditions required to win the prestigious X Prize.

Scaled Composites began building the Global Flyer approximately 14 months ago. The plane is designed to attempt to set the record for the first solo non-stop flight around the world flight.

Publication Date: 28/01/2005

WWW Link: http://www.advanced-composites.com

WWW Link: http://www.globalflyer.com

 Subscribe to our Composite News Feed