Scaled Composites Raptor

The Scaled Composites Raptor, company Model 226, was an early high-altitude uncrewed aircraft built as a platform for testing technology to detect and neutralize short-range ballistic missiles. The programme began on 5 June 1992 with a contract from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and aimed at a flight endurance of 48 hours. Because uncrewed aircraft technology was still being vetted in 1992, the first flight on 27 April 1993 carried a safety pilot, Doug Shane, riding on top of the fuselage. The aircraft has a wingspan of 66 feet, a length of 25 feet and an empty weight of 810 pounds, and it carries a 100 horsepower Rotax engine. Two demonstrators were built, because the first was lost to a gyro failure on an unmanned flight; the second had a larger propeller and a double-turbocharged engine. Raptor met the goals of its programme, was transferred to NASA under the ERAST programme as a high-altitude test bed, and was later donated to the Edwards Air Force Base Museum.