30 July 2008
<b>News from<br> <a href=”http://www.airventure.org”><img src=”images/airventure2k8.gif” border=”0″><br>Oshkosh</a></b>
Yesterday at Oshkosh saw the launch of the Rocket Racing League – they’re calling themselves the Nascar of the Air – with a demonstration of one of the racers.
Essentially, the aircraft on display at Oshkosh was a Velocity (an established canard type) with a rocket installed. This engine, it is said, produces 1,500lb thrust rocket and the aircraft can reach speeds of over 300kt.
The first race is set to take place at Reno in September; the plan is to have – if not at Reno, then certainly in subsequent races – a large screen showing the action, using cameras fitted to the eight or 10 aircraft in the race.
• Also at Oshkosh yesterday – and grabbing some UK headlines this morning – was a New Zealand-developed personal aviation accessory called the Martin Jetpack. Strap the pack (which contains a two-stroke piston engine) to your back, and off you go. You can already buy your own version of the jetpack, and although it hasn’t yet got more than six feet off the ground, the expectation is that it will have a service ceiling of 8,000ft.
• After unveiling WhiteKnightTwo at Mojave, Richard Branson and Burt Rutan yesterday crossed the US to bring the news to Oshkosh. They attracted a huge crowd to their presentation, in which they underlined their commitment to personal affordable space travel. There was even a hint that the first non-New Mexico spaceport launch might be from Oshkosh
