Posted on 06/27/2002 11:06:46 AM PDT by NonZeroSum
The EZ-Rocket lifts in to the air under rocket power after circling once and landing.
This "touch-and-go" is the first ever in a rocket powered aircraft.
- Photo by Mike Massee
XCOR EZ-Rocket Performs Touch-and-go
First time ever for rocket powered airplane
Mojave, CA, Tuesday, June 25, 2002: XCOR Aerospace announced that its rocket engine test-bed, the XCOR EZ-Rocket, performed a "touch-and-go" maneuver, yesterday, Monday, June 24, at their test facility at the Mojave Airport in Mojave, CA. The "touch-and-go" maneuver was the first time ever for a rocket-powered airplane.
 XCOR Chief engineer Dan DeLong congratulates pilot Dick Rutan on a successful touch-and-go flight. |
The EZ-Rocket took off at 7:40 am and as XCOR test pilot Dick Rutan flew over the Mojave Airport he shut down both engines in flight. Rutan then brought the plane in to a power off landing on runway 30, touched down and rolled along the runway for several hundred feet. Rutan reignited the engines and took off, completing the "touch-and-go". The tenth flight of the EZ-Rocket lasted seven minutes 47 seconds and reached an altitude of 5,850 ft.
"Being able to perform a 'touch-and-go' further demonstrates our goal of safe and routine rocket-powered vehicle operation," said Jeff Greason, XCOR's CEO. "If you are going to fly with any kind of regularity you need to be able to safely abort a landing. The ability to reignite the engines and change your initial landing dramatically increases the safety of the vehicle allowing more routine operations. The EZ-Rocket's 'touch-and-go' helps demonstrate our capabilities."
 The EZ-Rocket is followed by its piston powered counterpart, flown by Mike Melvill. |
XCOR's test pilot, Dick Rutan, Lt. Col. USAF Ret., will be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame this summer. Rutan is a decorated combat pilot and is world renowned for the non-stop, round the world Voyager flight. The EZ-Rocket is America's first privately built, liquid fueled, rocket powered airplane and has set major milestones demonstrating routine operations of a rocket-powered vehicle. XCOR will demonstrate the EZ-Rocket during AirVenture 2002 in Oshkosh, WI. (http://www.airventure.org/)
XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave, California. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket engines and rocket powered vehicles.
members of the print press may request high resolution photographs by contacting ajackson@xcor.com.
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Not sure if that really true
The Junkers Ju.248/Messerschmit Me.263 did start flight trials and may have done "touch-and-go's"
And there were probably rocket powered aircraft way before that...
However, in this case, the "first" was the "touch and go landing". So in essence, they are correct.
A subsequent post did have something on the ME 263 which MAY have done such a maneuver during testing (it was flight tested in the USSR after the war).
You probably get killed in a Me163 trying a "touch-and-go" with it skid and trolley landing gear
But the later Junkers Ju.248/Messerschmit Me.263 did have the tools to do a "touch-and-go" conventional landing gear & throttleable engine
I can't say it did but it had the tools
I am not positive but seems like I remember a discovery channel program that said that the Germans rocket plane took off on a heavy sled with wheels that fell away after take off. It landed on skids which would have made touch and go's unlikely.
I'm not so sure that it's all that much different than a jet, other than the vehicle must carry its own oxidizer in addition to fuel.
I suppose this little craft makes for a "cool" novelty.
It'll be much more impressive if scaled up and also capable of reaching orbit after such a touch-and-go.
That was on the ME163 is was a bad set up the trolly when droped could bounce up and hit the aircraft and on landing your were stuck sitting on a skid
The Messerschmit Me.263/Junkers Ju.248 went to conventional landing gear... see the pic is my post #5
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