Wed, Jul 30, 2008
First Public Flight Deemed "Amazing Success"
The Rocket Racing League did it! They flew Tuesday, and
they flew up a storm. And make no mistake about it, this was
no taxi test.
Just after 2:30pm, former NASA astronaut Rick Searfoss took off
for a demo flight. Despite threatening clouds which imposed a
2,000-foot ceiling on what was supposed to be a 4,000 foot vertical
climbout after takeoff, Searfoss did a nice job improvising a "low
show" to show off the rocket racer's turns and burns for the crowd.
More demos are scheduled later this week for Friday and
Saturday.
Founded in 2005 by two-time
Indianapolis 500 champion team owner Granger Whitelaw and aerospace
pioneer and X PRIZE Foundation founder Dr. Peter Diamandis, the
Rocket Racing League (www.rocketracingleague.com)
is the only entertainment sports league that combines the
exhilaration of racing with the power of rocket engines, fully
satisfying our universal love for power and flight through the
thrill of Rocket Racers.
To be held at venues across the
country, the Rocket Racing League will feature multiple races
pitting up to 10 Rocket Racers going head to head in a 4-lap,
multiple elimination heat format on a 5-mile "Formula One"-like
closed circuit raceway in the sky. The Rocket Racer pilots see the
"raceway in the sky" via in-panel and 3D helmet displays.
For the hundreds of thousands of fans
in attendance, they will witness the racing action live and in
real-time display on multiple large projection screens. For the
millions of fans watching on televisions and PCs at home, they will
experience the thrill of the Rocket Racing League via unique remote
and rocket-mounted cameras that give at-home fans the sensation of
riding right alongside famed League pilots.
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