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Air Racing | The Rocket Racing League 01 Rocket racer going airborne on first flight 02 Preflight testing on the rocket racer 03 Team owner Jim Bridenstine & Granger Whitelaw, co-founder & CEO Rocket Racing League at Oshkosh First flights with a rocket racer Len Fox flew F/A-18s and A-4s for the Navy and has tested 54 types of planes in his career. He recently flew Rocket Racer test flights with the new Armadillo liquid oxygen-alcohol engine. The August tests involved roughly 10-minute flights at altitudes ran- ging up to 8,000 feet and speeds of up to 219 miles per hour. Fox was able to go from zero to 105 miles per hour in 6.7 seconds. Mr. Fox, what was it like flying the Rocket Racers? Anytime a pilot has an opportunity to be involved in the development and first flight of a prototype, it is a challenging and reward- ing experience. The development stage challenges the imagina- tion in creating the test plan, procedures and contingencies in the event of emergency. On the first flight, the pilot must be ready to pick up all the cues that a plane is emitting and address those cues with flying skills if necessary. Final satisfaction comes in 30 Outlook 02/2008 01 02 03 executing the initial test series in accordance with the plans and procedures developed. This plane marched through its first seven flights. Was it significantly different than the other planes you have flown? The basics are the same in that the pilot is managing power and attitude to attain an altitude / airspeed combination. What skills are necessary to maneuver with short bursts of thrust? An indispensable skill will be the ability to manage the energy of the aircraft. That energy will be in form of thrust and airspeed and altitude. Pilot experience in the realm of gliding will be beneficial in maximizing energy management by using a glider pilot‘s eye to accurately assess a Rocket Racer‘s position relative to the available landing options.
Where do you think or hope there will be improvements in Rocket Racer technology? I think that using rockets in a popular sport will spur improvements in rocket design just as auto racing has spurred improvements in every aspect of the automobile. For rockets, the improvements will be in the area of simplicity, reliability and cost. The better designs that grow out of this effort will be the ones that make suborbital and orbital transportation commonplace. How safe are the planes? 01 02 The planes are safe if flown within the bounds of maximum allowable speed, maximum allowable G and glide performance. The aircraft - engine combination comes with constraints that must be addressed with the appropriate procedures and checklists for all phases of operation. What special safety mechanisms are there? Special safety mechanisms include the onboard computer that controls the start, operation and shutdown of the engine. If it is working properly, the computer will detect a problem and secure the engine faster than the pilot can read a fault display and react. What do pilots need to learn in order to fly a Rocket Racer? The pilot of a vehicle like this has to be intimately familiar with the approach windows that will safely get the plane back to the run- 01 Prepping the rocket racer 02 Santa Fe Rocket Racing Team way when the rocket no longer fires due to fuel exhaustion or inflight malfunction. How did you know how to fly it if no one ”taught“ you? The best preparation came in the form of flying the propeller version of the Velocity XL with the power adjusted to take away any thrust or drag produced by the propeller. This gave insights into the glide performance of the basic airframe which proved very accurate in predicting the rocket conversion performance. What will be most challenging about the racetrack? The most challenging part of the virtual racecourse will be tailoring it to the performance of the rocket racer. It must not exceed the racer‘s ability to go vertical, or to roll, or to get back to the runway. If the course design is too ambitious, it will be impossible to fly. The biggest challenge, therefore, will be exploring the limits of what is possible. What will be the most enjoyable aspect of flying the course? Baseline enjoyment will come from a well-designed Rocket Racer. When an aircraft effortlessly responds to the pilot‘s will, it is a delight to fly. Beyond that, it will be using pilot skill in mastering the G, angle of bank, engine management, drag induced by control deflection and a dozen other fine details to run the course just a little bit faster than the competition. Outlook 02/2008 31
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