Mon, May 01, 2006
10-Mile Flight One Of 2005's "Most Memorable Aviation
Records"
XCOR Aerospace
announced Monday the EZ-Rocket team was honored by the National
Aeronautic Association (NAA) at the organization's recent Spring
Awards Ceremony, as recipients of the NAA's "Most Memorable
Aviation Record of 2005" Award for last December's record-setting
flight by the EZ-Rocket.
As was reported in Aero-News,
in December 2005 the NAA certified the EZ-Rocket as completing the
long distance world record for any ground-launched Rocket-Powered
Airplane.
In the words of test-pilot and record-holder Dick Rutan -- who
also co-piloted the Voyager round-the-world flight in 1986 -- it
was "the shortest long-distance record flight ever." The 9.94-mile
trek from Mojave Airport to California City Airport was enough to
be verified by the NAA as the Distance without Landing
record-holder for its class.
Rutan received the award at the NAA's Spring Awards Ceremony,
held at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Friday, April
28 in Arlington, VA.
"This award is a wonderful ending to a five year flight test
program," said XCOR Aerospace CEO, Jeff Greason. "We want to thank
the NAA judges for their work in verifying this world record. With
25 flights, the EZ-Rocket demonstrated low-cost and low-maintenance
rocket-powered flight. We're ready to move on to the next
step."
First flown in 2002, the EZ-Rocket is a modified Long-EZ
homebuilt aircraft powered by two 400-lb thrust rocket engines,
fueled by LOX and isopropyl alcohol. XCOR has since retired the
EZ-Rocket in order to work on the next-generation of rocketplanes
-- the Mk. 1 aircraft that will be flown by pilots in the inaugural
season of the Rocket Racing League.
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