Posted on 04/14/2008 2:38:51 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Rocket mavens, mark your calendars: The date of the first Rocket Racing League race has been set.
On Aug. 1-2, the league will stage a high-flying version of NASCAR with rockets at the EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wis., in its first-ever exhibition race.
Two racers will fly planes powered by rocket engines on a 2-lap circuit around an airborne raceway.
Pilots in the races will view the sky racecourse on 3-D helmet displays, while the roughly 700,000 people expected to attend will watch the action on multiple 50-foot (15-meter) projection screens.
"We're using 21st century technology to create a 21st-century sport for 21st-century people," said Granger Whitelaw, Rocket Racing League CEO, during a press briefing here at the Yale Club. "We're very excited about announcing our first public exhibition race."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Next will be Roller Ball!
This is cool ... I would pay to see it.
Live.
LOL! While cool, in almost all respects rocket-powered planes are really no different from jet-powered ones .... aside from the fact that the fact that they have to carry their own oxidizer means that the rocket planes can’t go for nearly as long.
support little league roller ball!
What’s the point of using rocket engines in the lower atmosphere? Why carry oxidizer, when a jet can just suck it out of the air?
JO NA THAN!!!!
JO NA THAN!!!!
JO NA THAN!!!!
JO NA THAN!!!!
JO NA THAN!!!!
JO NA THAN!!!!
Ok, fine, but where’s the Thunderdome?
I think the point is to fund the development of lightweight man-rated rocket engines ... note that the “X-Prize” folks are behind this.
better tell my parents to get some rocket insurance on their house...and the barn...and the machine shed...and the granary...
I guess my complaint is that there is absolutely nothing new about it -- it's a publicity gimmick. Pretty cool, of course, but it's not ground-breaking in any real sense.
This could really take off, but they must avoid “cookie cutter” courses, and NEVER mention the “rocket racer of tommorow”.
I am so there.
Just as long as I’m not in the part of the crowd where the chunks of rocket land.
That remains to be seen. I'm aware of those historical artifacts, and of much more advanced historical artifacts.
But small man-rated rocket engine development got stalled ... These folks are trying to re-start it. In the private sector.
I see that as a good thing.
YMMV
Imagine 350 MPH+ laps -- now THAT would be fun.
“The initial racer design was powered by XCOR’s liquid-oxygen and kerosene rocket engine, though Whitelaw announced Monday that a second engine type, fueled by liquid-oxygen and ethanol, will also be available.”
These Boys just might be serious...
The question is, of course: why did it get stalled? The answer is pretty simple: there was (and is) no practical need for man-rated rockets of the size required here.
Air-breathing engines are far superior for atmospheric use; you need a much bigger rocket to go to where air-breathing rockets aren't useful; and once you're in space, you don't need rockets of the size that can keep an airplane aloft.
So again: this is cool stuff, but it's not really useful.
Like the V-2.
yah, and a Mazeratti burns the same gasoline as the Model T...
Same fuel, radically different engine...
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