The new "World's Largest Airplane" courtesy of Stratolaunch...

via Gizmodo

You can’t be a Silicon Valley billionaire without having your own initiative to build a big ass aircraft. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is most definitely a Silicon Valley billionaire and today, he proved that by pulling the world’s largest airplane out of its hanger for the first time and showed the world what the future of rocket launches might look like.

Story here.

Hi rez pics here.

I get why they have twin fuselages, but don't understand the twin cockpits.  Why?  Seems like unnecessary added weight.  This design just won't die.  I wonder why its so popular in the fringe scientific space launch community but hasn't been adopted by the military.  Do the benefits of the design fit only a narrow sphere?