OK, here is is, from the horses mouth!
We unloaded and setup on Sunday. It takes lots of hands, a forklift (donated by George Calloway) and a manlift (brought down by Steve Green). It takes all day to set up the coverall shelter, tools and stuff. On Monday, we unloaded the Eagle and configured it for the test runs. We made camp at the West end so we had to tow to the East end for our first run on Tuesday. Using a Topcon GPS system with marker tags set at 1/4 mile intervals we had a very accurate and straight courseI t turned out that the middle of the course was extremely rough (and dangerously so!) and the front wheel was tearing up the course real badly. We encountered many problems at the beginning because of the heat but made one pass anyway. We hauled back to camp and licked our wounds and changed a few things including the front wheel assembly.
On Wednesday, we set up the course to run West to East and moved over to a smoother section. We encountered problems with the start cart because of the excessive heat. It was shutting down the computers, sapping power off the batteries and the flow valve on the start cart was binding. The ignitors on the J-79 wouldn't fire and it turned out to be a loose cannon plug on the engine. We got in another run but the stupid driver forgot to turn on the hydraulic system and lost steering at the 1/2 mile mark, changed to the South side of the cones, then realized what he had forgotten, turned on the pump, slalomed back to the North side of the cones, made a quick burst of power then shut it off and coasted to the 2.5 mile. Steering works!
On Thursday morning, we set up for a good long run. Ran to the 1/2 mile at 90%, slipped it into 100% at the 1 mile, a quick blink into the afterburner then shut down at about 280. I deployed the high speed chute and it worked perfectly. It is deployed with a charge so the deployment bag gets shot out of the can, the 150' riser extends to full length then the bag slips off and the 7.5' diameter chute blossoms. It hovers about 3 feet of the deck and doesn't sway back and forth at all. Very good chute! The aluminum brake rotors got up to 335 degrees which is well within the heat range of 1800 degrees max.
On Thursday noon, we set up for one last run. I accelerated for 1/2 mile at 100% then slipped into afterburner as the air speed indicator passed 180 knots. I stayed in AB for a full 5 seconds. Just past the two mile mark I pulled it back into idle and deployed the speed brakes then pressed the button for the high speed chute. Nothing! I began applying the mag brakes and hit the backup chute. Watching the end of the lakebed coming up, I began applying the nose brake as well. The nose brake is a multi disk brake from a main gear assembly of a F-104. As I came to a stop the mag brake temperatures were at 635 degrees. Well within specs. The Eagle steered nice and straight and smooth. The power, using a military style afterburner is extremely strong but not violent. We generate 18,200 lbs thrust and weigh 13,780 lbs with a load of fuel. The rolling resistance on El Mirage is only about 500 lbs so the Eagle travels quite easily. Aerodynamically we are as slick as a pencil so getting the Eagle up to 400 MPH is quite easy at this stage of the game. Black Rock is much more difficult but much much safer with plenty of rollout room and easier to maintain a solid track. The harder surface at El Mirage also allows the aluminum tires to skip and bounce around quite a bit so post run investigation of the track is almost scary.
All in all, it was a very successful test session. The Sidewinders, Ron Main, George Calloway, Graig (Georges right hand man), Monte, Buch and Vicki, and several other local racers were of tremendous help. When we get all our stories put together, we'll put an update on the website for all to read..................Ed
