First rocket powered air race to be held at EAA in Oshkosh

[Octavius]

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/rocket-racing-t.html

The Rocket Racing League announced this week that their first Exhibition Race would take place at the famed Oshkosh AirVenture EAA Airshow in Wisconsin August 1-2. Two racers will be on the course which combines the thrill of motorsports with the power of rocket engines in flight. The Rocket Racing League will also hold Exhibition Races this year at the Reno Air Races, at Aviation Nation (also in Nevada), and at the X Prize Cup in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Sweet!

[Denholm]

What, this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgF9hBL-CuA

[Strip]

Look like modern 163s to me.

Ive seen the engines in person tho and they are very robust and well designed.

Strip

[Mustaine]

Oh Sh--!!!

Sucks to be in the vegetable state (human and plant) huh Oct??? "lol

I'm so gonna be there !!!

[moot]

Carmack's engines might get more business from this, very cool.
Personaly I'd find it cooler if there was racing over a maglev track like in the Wipeout games.  It'd be less prone to catastrophic accidents and allow some contact between the racecraft.  It'd also look cooler, as they'd probably have to have attitude thrusters.

[Octavius]

eh?  Er, I moved back, Mustaine.

[Mustaine]

eh?  Er, I moved back, Mustaine.

since when??

you haven't said "let's go get beers" ????



ahh I know why I scare your fragile youth mind and you can't drink as much now that you're legal

[VWE]

Sweet, I predict we'll see our first rocket plane explosion mid race... and no better place to be able to veiw it from 20 differnet camera angles on youtube within an hour after it happens.

 

[Strip]

Your prediction wont happen.

These engines a relatively low pressure with heavy margins of safety. A pressurized feed system leaves few components that can lead to a major failure. As a matter of fact the only part that could cause such a failure would be the main propellant tanks. This is highly unlikely as the state of pressure vessel design has been refined to a high degree. Between reduntant regulators and burst discs it would take a long line of nearly impossible events to suffer a major failure mode.

Strip