Flying Low, Haulin "A"

[Robbie Stuart]

From Auto Spectator

North American Eagle Prepares to Break World Land Speed Record
EL MIRAGE, Calif., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Ed Shadle will perform medium speed test runs in his 50,000hp highly modified F-104, land speed car, the North American Eagle(TM), in preparation of becoming the fastest man on earth by exceeding 800 MPH to shatter the World Land Speed Record.


"Continuous testing is the key to our success-clearly the horsepower is there and we know it will go fast. Testing to date has been limited to 375 mph by the rubber aviation tires. With the addition of wheels machined from a block of forged aluminum, we will be able to test at much higher speeds," said a proud Shadle.

"The Eagle will also continue testing with alternative fuels. Preliminary tests show positive results using the green fuels. Government and corporate researchers are looking into ways to power commercial jet engines with alternative fuels. We continue to lead the way by working with Seattle BioDiesel, a leading biodiesel refinery and research laboratory," stated Co-owner Keith Zanghi.

October 18, Steve Fossett, aviator, sailor, and balloonist, announced that he also plans on challenging the current land speed record. He purchased the car that failed 1996-1997 record attempts from racer Craig Breedlove.

With Fossett being new to land speed racing and Shadle's 40 years of racing experience, next October is shaping up to be the biggest and ultimate extreme racing event of the 21st Century.

"There is nothing like old-fashioned competition to get an American's juices flowing," remarked "LandSpeed" Louise Ann Noeth, author of Bonneville: Fastest Place on Earth. "More than a decade has rolled by since the British took the absolute record and that's long enough. This nation certainly has the talent to recapture that honor."

Noeth added, "With the goal beyond Mach One, it will require an inordinate amount of intestinal fortitude to knock the crown off Andy Green's head. Fossett seems to enjoy conquering near impossible odds, so he setting himself up for a supersonic match race. The former Spirit of America machine is a sad study of wasted potential, Fossett has his work cut out for him; the North American Eagle is already in its testing phase, but lacks the fountain of financing that Fossett commands, so both teams need to hustle if either wishes to be the new King of Speed. Either way, a tasty velocity battle is brewing."

Source: Ed Shadle
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Some people got The Need For Speed
Robbie

[Ollie]

The sad thing in this exciting thing is that their F-104 used to be a NF-104 flown by Yeager.

[Shay]

The sad thing in this exciting thing is that their F-104 used to be a NF-104 flown by Yeager.

Atleast they saved it from the alternative that the PBY has succumed to.

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

[Bill Greenwood]

I don't know what the current speed record is, but I' m skeptical that a car is going to go 800 mph. There might be some hot air coming from sources besides the engine. What's an F-104 top speed at ground level? If you haven't seen the recent movie with Anthony Hopkins based on a true race story, " The World's Fastest Indian", it is excellent and entertaining.

[King]

I don't know what the current speed record is, but I' m skeptical that a car is going to go 800 mph. There might be some hot air coming from sources besides the engine. What's an F-104 top speed at ground level? If you haven't seen the recent movie with Anthony Hopkins based on a true race story, " The World's Fastest Indian", it is excellent and entertaining.

The British ThrustSSC captured the land speed record at 763.035 mph.

Sonic Boom and everything!

[P-40less in TX]

max speed of mach 2 and 1.2mach at sea level

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... /f-104.htm

That's in unmodified form. With those wings only slowing it down.

[Bill Greenwood]

I thought the land speed record was about 600, I was pretty far off. Guess that shows how little I know about diesel burners whether in the air or on the ground. Planes aren't supposed to make sonic booms in U S airspace, what about a car? Is it as loud as aloft .How do they keep the tires intact?

[bdk]

Not in the "airspace," they are on the ground. Same air I guess, but you get a pass for contact with terra firma. I believe the "tires" will be solid aluminum discs, sort of a wheel and tire combined into one.

[Randy Haskin]

The sad thing in this exciting thing is that their F-104 used to be a NF-104 flown by Yeager.

Yeah, sad because it was being "preserved" by its previous owner so beautifully, only to have Shadle destroy it...



Note that the name of second photo is "cockpit trash"...

[mjanovec]

The sad thing in this exciting thing is that their F-104 used to be a NF-104 flown by Yeager.

I don't think Yeager was a big asset to the NF-104 program. In fact, it was his crash that essentially ended the program. However, it would have been nice to see the NF-104 preserved in a museum and another F-104 used for the land speed record.

Robert Smith's website has some excellent detail about the program...and more specifically, he pulls no punches about who was to blame when discussing Yeager's crash:

http://www.nf104.com/

[Lynn Allen]

I don't know what the current speed record is, but I' m skeptical that a car is going to go 800 mph. There might be some hot air coming from sources besides the engine. What's an F-104 top speed at ground level? If you haven't seen the recent movie with Anthony Hopkins based on a true race story, " The World's Fastest Indian", it is excellent and entertaining.

Roger That, it is a great movie......

Lynn

[K5DH]

I did a Google search and it turned up MANY hits. This one has some decent photos and good text:

http://www.machinedesign.com/ASP/strArt ... rticle.asp

The team's own web site is here:

http://www.landspeed.com

Cheers!

[Cking]

Being a Brit I am very proud of the Thrust SSC 's teams effort, But it still doesn't seem right that the fastest man on the earth isn't called Breedlove!!!

Rgds Cking

[oscardeuce]

But can it parallel park?

[systemofadown1162]

Just saw "The World's Fastest Indian" the other day, good movie worth a rent.

But a question I have is: at Mach 1 how do they keep from going airborne?