FYI,

"Rocket Racing League Sets Date for Exhibition Race"
Space.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080414/sc_space/rocketracingleaguesets
dateforexhibitionrace;_ylt=A9j8e9p7tANIU7YAWwAE1vAI

: 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, Wisc., 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."

: The Rocket Racing League was founded in 2005 by Ansari X Prize
: founder Peter Diamandis and Whitelaw, an Indianapolis 500 veteran.
: The competitors will be piloted Mark 1 X-Racer rockets based on the
: EZ-Rocket design developed by the firm XCOR Aerospace in Mojave,
: California.

: "I'm very proud of the incredible progress that's been made by this
: team, " Diamandis said. "This is an incredibly important and
: exciting sport that will be as interesting to kids as it will be to
: adults."

: The league currently has six teams that will compete in four series
: of races throughout the year. After the first EAA AirVenture
: exhibition, later races will be staged at the Reno National
: Championship Air Races in Reno, Nev., between Sept.10-14; at
: Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nev., on
: Nov. 8-9, and at the X Prize Cup in Las Cruces, N.M., in late
: October.

: 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 alcohol, will also
: be available.

: Mesquite, Tex.-based Armadillo Aerospace, founded by computer
: game-developer John Carmack, will build the new engines, which can
: stopped and restarted. Since the engines burn liquid oxygen and
: ethanol, the company added a salt water solution to the fuel to
: produce a bright yellow glow from the racers.

: "We're building a robust set of technologies together that should
: be safe for the pilot, cost effective, and spectacular for the
: crowds," Carmack said via a video link.

: Full Rocket Racing competitions will be point-based competitions
: that run four laps around an aerial racetrack, with racers
: switching their engines on and off to conserve their 10-minute or
: so supply of fuel, league officials have said.

: During the exhibition races, two team-owned rocket planes are
: expected to fly, Whitelaw said. The Bridestine Rocket Racing team,
: founded by former U.S. Navy pilot Jim Bridestine, and Santa Fe
: Racing team led by Albuquerque land developer Marc Cumbow will
: reserve the first two league racers, Whitelaw said.

: "I've been seeing the tremendous amount of exposure NASCAR has
: gotten, and I think this is the next generation," Bridestine
: said. "I think it's going to be a lot more exciting [than NASCAR]."

: The Rocket Racing Composites Corp. also announced the acquisition
: of the Velocity Aircraft company of Sebastian, Fla., which will
: construct airframes for the league's Rocket Racers. The cockpit
: seats for all the Rocket Racers will be reinforced to withstand
: impacts of up to 20G forces, and the league plans to add safety
: measures to the racers similar to that of F-1 and Indy Cars.

: The composites firm and racing league itself are part of the Rocket
: Racing, Inc., an umbrella firm that also includes a research and
: development branch based in Las Cruces, Whitelaw said.

: "What's really important, and unusual in this type of business, is
: a focus on safety," said Scott Baker, president of Velocity, Inc.
: "Those advances are going to find themselves entering into the
: world of general aviation. We're looking forward to some exciting
: times ahead."

Mark Reiff