Not Your Father's Air Race

by ANN Correspondent Annette Kurman

It's a 21st century sport for 21st century fans using 21st century technology. And it portends to whoop the pants off of such old (as in 20th century) entertainment sports like NASCAR, Formula One, and Indy Car, with what will be a visually awesome fan experience.

Yup, it's the new Rocket Racing League (RRL), which presented members of its first team, Leading Edge Racing, to the EAA AirVenture public on Friday. Fans met RRL founders: X-Prize founder and Chairman/CEO of Zero-Gravity Corporation, Peter Diamandis and two-time Indianapolis 500 champion team partner Granger Whitelaw, as well as team members: U.S. National Advanced Aerobatic Champion (just one of his multitude of awards) Sean D. Tucker; commercial pilot, grandson of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Lindbergh Foundation director, Erik Lindbergh; Aero-News Network's editor-in-chief, and aviation safety advocate, James Campbell; and F-16 Air Force pilot, Korey Axe.

For all of those involved in the RRL, it's not just about the money (although start-up money from individuals attracted to the project and a multitude of revenue streams won't make the league eligible for nonprofit status); it's about a sport that will move technology forward, and not at the expense of our individual pockets (did I hear the world "NASA?").

Said Whitelaw, ""The highest honor I've ever received is the opportunity to do this." He called the RRL the next franchise to be included in the same breath as the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds. "This is the future... and the next paradigm shift." 

The technology created and developed for these rocket racers, said Whitelaw, will ultimately become available to the general and commercial aviation industries seven years later (remember Tang?). "It's a test bed for R&D (research and development)."

Added Lindbergh, the RRL and all that it entails, will give many young people the "juice" or motivation they need to learn because they want to learn. "This (RRL) will light a fire under many people … and expand on the future to the stars, making it safer, faster, and easier."

Said Test Pilot/Instructor Jim Campbell, now editor-in-chief for Aero-News Network, "We all dream about it (rocket racing), and then we all get bogged down in the realities of life. This is watching history unfold; the RRL changes everything."

Chimed in Sean D. Tucker, "Passion overcomes everything."

The league is located on a 12-acre parcel at Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico, with almost unlimited expansion capabilities. The league will travel to other cities for the semi-finals, with the finals X-Prize Cup being held in La Cruces. It plans six races next year, with 10 the year after.

Additionally, there is a real potential for international racing.

The RRL is working very closely with the FAA, Whitelaw noted, as well as the University of New Mexico. In addition to the Las Cruces headquarters, semi-final competitions will be held in locations around the country.

As an entrepreneurial enterprise based on the successful business models of racing, the RRL plans revenue streams that include event and admission revenue, TV, gaming, sponsorships, new media, gaming, venue-based sales, licensing and merchandise, attractions, and, uh, did I remember to mention gaming?

But what about the racing?!

The racing, itself, is perhaps top of mind for the fans. Here're the facts, Max:

• Closed course with single pilot vehicles that "rocket" laps and make four to six eight-minute pit stops.
• Ten rocket racers, all built the same, levels the playing field,
• The "track" is one mile high, two miles long, and a half mile wide.
• Virtual GPS tunnels will shape the closed circuit track.
• Fans will have access from the ground, from television and from the web to the exiting and rocket-fast action taking place.
• The races will be 60-90 minutes in length.
• The Mark-1 X-Racer will be a two passenger rocket; will carry only a single seat during RRL racing.
• Look for a 15-foot bright yellow plume as the rockets roar through the course, which features four minutes of intermittent engine boost and 10 minutes of unpowered (glide) flight, allowing strategy to play a key role in each team's plan.
• Each of the ten identical rocket-powered X-Racers will be built using proven airframe technology, with a fully-integrated 1,500 pound thrust rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and kerosene.
• Cameras will not only follow the race from balloons and chase planes, but five of them will be mounted within each vehicle, providing unparalleled coverage of the race.

What's this "virtual track in the sky" stuff?

• X-Racers will navigate a three-dimensional track featuring  real and virtual obstacles using virtual gates created through GPS technology.
• Pilots will navigate the course using a heads-up display mounted in their helmets.
• The courses will vary in shape and complexity, covering an airspace box approximately 10,000-feet long, 3,000-feet wide, and 5,000 feet high.
• The electronic course will be visible to race fans via large video screens and hand-held monitoring devices, and at home on television or on the computer.

FMI: www.rocketracingleague.com