profession: pilot career: actor - Jet Aviation

Air Racing | The Rocket Racing League
not only their league, but also the orbital
and suborbital space industries.
The future
The Rocket Racing League has several US
venues planned and would eventually like
to be international. It is currently in discus-
sion with seven countries. Television will
be an important factor, and Whitelaw has
said that the starting date for the first
league races will depend on television
contracts.
Viewers both at home and at the races will
be able to share the experience of the pilot
through the five cameras placed on and in
the plane, as well as cameras in blimps
and helicopters nearby. They will also be
able to “take part” in the races through a
video game the league is developing. The
game will be a multiplayer online game,
28 Outlook 02/2008
allowing players to become a character
within it, through which they can interact
with other players. It will also allow players
to virtually race against pilots in real Rocket
Racer League events.
Whitelaw plans to hold a worldwide videogame
contest and then fly the winner to
one of the league’s races. The player will
be put in a blacked-out tent and will start
his or her virtual aircraft in real time with
the actual Rocket Racers in the event. The
player will have to maneuver in conditions,
such as weather, that reflect those experienced
by the pilots in the aircraft. Spectators
and television viewers will be able
see the virtual aircraft on the screen, together
with the real aircraft. In what the
founders refer to as “a 21st century sport
for the 21st century sports fan.”
01 02
01 Bridenstine DKNY Rocket Racer
rolling out on take-off
02 The rocket racer takes to the sky
on its maiden flight
The brain behind
Armadillo Aerospace
In the 1990s, John Carmack and
a group of friends formed id
software, and Carmack led them
in the development of “Doom,”
“Quake” and several other videos
games. These games came to
define the first-person shooter
genre. Today, though Carmack
continues to program about 40
hours a week, he also owns Arma-
dillo Aerospace and designs
rocket engines.
He has a very experimental
approach, launching many more
rockets than most in his business.
Along with designing engines that
can be used for Rocket Racer
aircraft, he is looking to create a
vehicle that will take passengers
into space.