Rocket Racing League
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | New York, Boston, Santa Monica, Las Cruces |
| Key people | Granger Whitelaw, Peter Diamandis, Dr. Robert Hariri, Bill Koch, Bob Weiss |
| Industry | Aerospace and Air Racing, Sports, Entertainment, Technology |
| Products | Rocketplane design, race promotions |
| Employees | 15 |
| Website | www.rocketracingleague.com |
The Rocket Racing League is a proposed racing league that would use rocket powered aircraft. The formation of the league was announced by Granger Whitelaw, and Peter Diamandis, founder of the Ansari X-Prize, on October 3, 2005, in partnership with the Reno Air Races. According to Diamandis, the purpose of the league is to "inspire people of all ages to once again look up into the sky and find inspiration and excitement."
Contents |
[edit] Background
Projected to be an hour and one half in length, the races would be between proposed Rocket Racer planes that use liquid oxygen and either kerosene or ethanol fuel[1] with a burn time of four minutes. The rocketplanes are expected to cost less than US$1 million each. The planes are based on the a fixed-gear Velocity SE modified by XCOR Aerospace and the retractible gear Velocity XL modified by Armadillo Aerospace for the purpose of rocket racing. The Velocity airframe is derived from a commercially-available kit plane that traces its design heritage to the Rutan Long-EZ, which has been modified to accept rocket power and custom avionics. In order to provide the airframes, RRL has purchased the aircraft's manufacturer, Velocity Aircraft.[2] The first prototype flew on October 26, 2007 at the Mojave Spaceport.
The RRL has been called "NASCAR with rockets", The Rocket Racer flew for a public audience at the 2008 EAA AirVenture Airshow at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.[3][4] If league competition begins, Whitelaw indicated tournament semifinals would be held each September in Nevada, with finals each October in New Mexico at the X Prize Cup competing for a $2 million championship purse.
Races would take place on a race course two miles long, one mile wide, and 1500 feet in the air. A typical race would take about one hour, and fans would be able to see multiple camera views, including cockpit, "on-track," "side-by-side" and wing-angle views.
Additionally, a computer game is planned which will interface with racer position data in real time over the internet, allowing players to virtually compete with the rocket pilots.
[edit] The Track
A typical Rocket Race begins with a staggered start. Pilots take off in pairs a few minutes apart, they will be competing against the clock but will maneuver around each other much like NASCAR. The pilots will be guided by a virtual three-dimensional "track" projected in their head-up display. Each racer will have a separate track to follow but the courses will be close together to build the excitement.
[edit] Teams
There are currently six teams registered to compete in the inaugural race season, Rocket Star Racing, Team Extreme Rocket Racing, Canada-based Beyond Gravity Rocket Racing, Bridenstine Rocket Racing, Santa Fe Racing and Thunderhawk Rocket Racing.
[edit] Predecessors
XCOR Aerospace flew its XCOR EZ-Rocket rocketplane for several years, the last flight of which occurred in 2005 before the vehicle was retired.
Another attempt to do rocketplane demonstration flying was initiated by Ed Wright circa 2002 when he purchased a surplus Russian MiG-21 jet fighter intending to convert it to rocket power. Though he has formed X-Rocket corporation and is operating high altitude flights with the jet, the rocket conversion has not happened to date.[when?][citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Rocket Racer fact sheet from League website
- ^ RRL press release announcing acquisition of Velocity.
- ^ Alan Boyle (Posted: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 6:07 PM). "Rocket racer goes public". Cosmic Log (MSNBC). http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/29/1232296.aspx.
- ^ Ken Denmead (August 1, 2008). "Rocket Racing League Wants to be NASCAR in the Air". Wired. http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2008/08/rocket-racing-l.html.
[edit] External links
- Rocket Racing League Closes Multi-Million Dollar Financing (Spacefellowship.com)
- Rocket Racing League
- XCOR page on RRL
- Rocket Racing League announces first team
- ‘Rocket racing league’ gets its start (MSNBC, Oct. 3, 2005)
- Sci-fi to sky high: rocket racers set to leave Formula One in the pits (The Times, Oct. 5, 2005)
- Team Started! (Yahoo, Jan. 30, 2006)
- NASCAR in the Clouds (Wired, February 2, 2006)
- X-Racers, Start Your Rockets! (Popular Science cover article, February 2006)
- RR Inc. Gets FAA Experimental Exhibition Certificate (Press Release, October 2008)
