I was about to ask Alvin where the spectacular picture of the Thunderbird pilot ejecting came from on our web site when the Feb issue of Popular Photography provided the details. I still wonder why the pilot ejected and destroyed that expensive airplane. It's level and all there but headed toward the control tower where the picture was taken from. In the old days, you were supposed to head the plane away from people and things before bailing. Maybe Steve Sager can find out what happened and whether the pilot is now a civilian.

I went to the Cabin Fever Expo last weekend and was surprised to find a seminar from XCOR Aerospace. These are the people from Mojave who built the rocket powered Long EZ that Dick Rutan flew at Oshkosh. They are forging ahead to develop a suborbital passenger vehicle with a projected ride price of $98K. They showed videos of engine and flight tests and things like the assembly of the aircraft at Oshkosh with the approvals required to allow them to fly. Apparently when they were loading it up to take to Oshkosh, Burt Rutan stopped by and remarked that they really should fly it before taking it to Oshkosh at which time they informed him that Dick had flown it the night before!

They are a small company which has been developing rocket engines and recognized that they couldn't muster the funding to compete for the X prize but still feel that they could build on their successes and ultimately build a passenger carrying suborbital rocket ship. They installed two 400 lb thrust rocket engines in the Long EZ owned by the boss, putting the LOX in a fuselage tank with the fuel in a pod underneath. Instead of a fuel pump, the fuel tank is pressurized from a 7000 psi helium tank to a pressure greater than combustion pressure to force fuel into the engine. So that pod is a heavy pressure vessel. They can make a flight of a few minutes for $900, expensive for an aircraft but very cheap for a rocket.

The reason that they were at the show was to announce their quest for a "steam" engine which could drive their fuel and LOX pumps. They have the pumps; they need the engines. Their requirements are listed on their web site, xcor.com.

Steve Fossett's Global Flyer is featured in the Feb Popular Mechanics. The article and pictures are good and the latest info from EAA Headquarters shows an early Feb target for the attempt.

TC news: John Sheridan has an experimental Ragwing Special with the test period flown.

Hatz progress: Not much, only learning and planning. Made some spar doublers of Birch ply, I think they will be better than the mahogany ones that Jim gave me. It was suggested that I do not split the engine case until I see all I can with the jugs removed. Sounds like a plan. Too cold in garage weeknights. Weekends I can warm it up and work all day.

Happy Flying