December 30, 2008
Ladies & Gentlemen:
As we leave 2008 behind and roll into 2009, here are a few notes about last year. First, we actually have made significant progress toward announcing a date when we may go after the record. Second, we now have another competitor. Yes, it's Richard Noble and Andy Green, just like it was back in 1997 when we were fooling around with the American Eagle One. This time, we feel like we really have a good chance of beating them to the mark. You can never under estimate your competitors and you just never know who is lurking in the shadows (Rosco?) Even with out the competitors pushing us, this project is technically difficult and financially draining, but you cannot take shortcuts.
We have a great deal of technical support from companies that are helping us with just about everything we need but, of course, we are still struggling to find money. Every test session costs about $20,000 for travel expenses, lodging for the team members, fuel, insurance, permits, porta-potties and all sorts of other things that add up. We've conducted a total of 8 test sessions and 23 runs to date.
Our next testing session will be met with great expectations of exceeding 400 then 500 with a speed limit of 575. We imposed this speed limit [on ourselves] until we gather data from our on-board data aquisition system and match that to the CFD analysis. If we feel we are on target, we will begin planning for our high speed runs with date and location yet to be determined. By that time, we will really be in need of a title sponsor to help us finance the run for the record.
The entire team is champing at the bit (horse talk) to get rolling and show the world what we're
made of. The inovation and tenacity of the team is an example of the good ol' North American "Can Do" attitude. The car is built, we have a fantastic team and we're so close we can just smell victory.
Ed Shadle
