Scaled Composites, LLC

Scaled has extensive experience in integrating and testing unique payloads on our fleet of testbeds – one test effort involved White Knight carrying the X-37 for its the initial atmospheric drop tests, using the same pylon as SpaceShipOne. On April 7, 2006, White Knight carried the X-37 up to the skies and released it for its first drop test! Learn more about White Knight: https://bit.ly/ScaledWK #FirstFlightFridays #PayloadTesting #DropTest #FlightTest

Raptor D-2 started its flight test campaign with a safety pilot on board to prove out the aircraft and VMS – November 16, 1996 marks its first flight unmanned! Learn more about Raptor here: https://lnkd.in/grqgVRB8 #FirstFlightFridays #UAV #unmannedflight

At Scaled Composites, we’re proud to have veterans among our team whose leadership and mission-first mindset strengthens everything we build and fly. Today we celebrate our employees, partners, and community members who served our country. Thank you for your courage and sacrifice. 🇺🇸 #VeteransDay #WeSaluteYou #ThankYouVeterans #ScaledComposites

While novel aircraft are the usual type of project seen in Scaled hangars, there are other interesting efforts developed inside our facilities as well. Back in the late 1990’s, a team at Scaled worked on a particularly strange looking project we called “Chickenbone”: recreating a John Dreyfuss cow vertebrae sculpture with lightweight composite materials to allow dancers to manipulate it on stage. This sculpture made its grand debut with the dancers of Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company for the opening night of their Gandhara performance on November 5, 1999! #FirstFlightFridays #Dancing #manufacturing #propbuild #buildit #propmaking

In October of 2000, Scaled wanted to prove the altitude capabilities of Proteus, and went about planning two flights on October 25th and 27th. During the first flight, Mike Melvill and Bob Waldmiller took Proteus up high to prove that Proteus could reach the altitude of 63,245 ft, and then maintain altitude in horizontal flight at 62,385 ft. Two days later, they took Proteus up again with a 1,000kg payload, reaching an altitude of 55,994 ft. All three of these altitude markers set new records for the FAI Class C1-e, Group 2, Turbojet category – records Proteus still holds today! #recordsetting #altitude #Proteus #ScaledCompositesProteus

Ready to fuel your passion for aviation with a Scaled summer internship? Don’t miss your takeoff window – applications close on October 24th. Apply now! https://lnkd.in/gVyi-rxt #internship #engineeringintern #engineer #engineering #intern #flighttest

Scaled is looking for students to join us as interns during the summer of 2026! Do you or someone you know have a passion for aviation, solving challenging problems, and pushing the envelope of what’s possible? Know someone who sounds like a fit? Send them our way! https://lnkd.in/gVyi-rxt #internship #engineeringintern #engineer #engineering #intern #flighttest

October 11, 2017, marks the first flight of the Model 401 Sierra aircraft – N401XP made its flight only 24 months after the start of the program! Scaled rapidly built two Model 401 demonstrator aircraft, N401XD made its first flight only 6 months later. Learn more about the Model 401 Sierras at: https://lnkd.in/gCrMpc2u   #FirstFlightFridays #jet #flighttest #demonstratoraircraft #experimentaljet

Happy Manufacturing Day! We wouldn’t have any first flights at Scaled without the hard work of our Manufacturing team – they are hands on with our aircraft from initial parts build, through assembly and systems integration, then in the final preparations for flight. #ManufacturingWeek #ManufacturingDay #workwithyourhands #craftsmen #craftspeople  #ScaledComposites #Manufacturing #CompositeFabricators #SystemsFabricators #Technicians #Mechanics #SystemsTechnicians

We’ll be in the skies above Huntington Beach, California this weekend for the Pacific Airshow! If you’re in the area, keep an eye out for some weird wings over the water as Proteus and a Model 401 fly along the coast. #airshow #pacificairshow #PacificAirshow #flying #HuntingtonBeachAirshow #HuntingtonBeach #surfcityusa #airshows #avgeek