AAE alumni are helping to make major advances in the development of experimental aircraft.

Sarah Arnac and Joe Krsek, who each completed their undergraduate degrees at Purdue, were part of the team at Scaled Composites who completed the first flight of a new experimental aircraft.

Model 401 had its first flight in early October. Scaled Composites, based in Mojave, California, designed the vehicle to demonstrate advanced, low-cost manufacturing techniques for research flight services that may be used by industry or government partners.

The team plans to continue development on this first vehicle as they prepare a similar second model aircraft.