Sonic
Wind
Waldo
Says: March Update
Great stuff is in the works. Ken
Mason, my rocket engineer is moving to Southern California from New Mexico.
He is going to build a rocket engine test stand to run a LR-99 rocket engine.
This is the "Million Horse Power Engine" which pushed the X-15 rocket
plane to over 4,500 miles per hour or Mach 6.72 and altitudes of 67 miles. Our
X-15 pilots were the first men in space, even before Yuri Gagarin of Russia.
They just could not go into orbit. The United States also had the first rocket
capable of placing a satellite into orbit. The Jupiter-C was test flown in 1955,
two years before Sputnik. The Jupiter-C was overloaded with sand during tests
to ensure its payload did not achieve orbital velocity. Our government would
not allow us to put up a satellite until after the Russians. I think you can
figure out why that was. The LR-99 was originally run on Ammonia and liquid
oxygen (LOX). Mason will run it on Ethanol/Water and LOX in the same manner
as we run the Sonic Wind LR-11 rocket engine. The LR-11 develops 2,200 pounds
of thrust while the LR-99, using Ethanol, will develop over 40,000 pounds of
thrust. Later there are plans to use a composite nozzle mated to the LR-99 injector
so we can shrink the nozzle diameter from 29 inches to 24 inches, which is essentially
a hot-rodded X-15 engine. The X-15 is the fastest plane in history, or so they
tell us. If I had a nickel every time Uncle Sam lied to us, I would be a billionaire.
What all this means is, Ken Mason, Larry Hayes and I are going to build a land
speed record car. I have been working on the design concepts for years, and
after the engine is certified reliable, I am going to build the Constitution
LSRV. This car will be capable of Mach 3+ and accelerating so hard, it can kill
a man. It will be 50 % larger in diameter than Sonic Wind and slightly under
50 feet long. Photos of the model are soon to follow. We will run Sonic Wind
this winter and up until the Constitution LSRV is completed. After we hold the
land speed record, we will put the Constitution LSRV in a museum, where it will
wait until the land speed record is taken away from the United States. At that
time it will be available for a capable pilot to borrow, modify as necessary
and insure in order to bring the LSR back to America. Then back to the museum
it will go. The key is the rocket engine which costs the American tax payers
50 million 1950s dollars to develop. (200 million dollars, 2003.) No sponsor
will ever match that kind of development money. Right now there is a LSR pilot/designer
watching cartoons in his mother's living room. He has to leave soon, as he has
to get to kindergarten. When he grows up and wants the LSR back for the USA,
we will be there to help him, even from our graves...Waldo
There
is more.....
Sonic Wind was mentioned in the movie "Landspeed", at your video
rental store now. It is a fictional account about an International land speed
record competition. The hero's car the "Demon Thrust" Is painted exactly
like Sonic Wind was in 1998. Rent this video, it is a hoot and no, the production
company did not send us a check. The new James Bond movie "Die another
day" features a red, rocket powered, ice racer that the villain is using
to set speed records. Bond steals it and out runs a space based Laser beam which
melts the ice in his wake. Sonic Wind is the only red, rocket powered ice racer
in the world so we know where the concept came from. The movie is great, rent
it. No they did not send us a check either. I don't mind all the creative liberty
taken with my projects. We have been ripped off by at least twenty toy and food
conglomerates to date. I just want companies to realize that the dynamic of
super sonic racing vehicles cannot be ignored. In almost every action movie
there is a rocketcar of some sort. Get with it and get with us...
The Constitution LSRV project is rolling along nicely. Ken Mason and I have
finalized the overall concept and Ken believes he will be running the "Million
Horse Power" LR-99 engine within a year. I will be looking for a good chassis
builder to fabricate the stainless steel space frame. Photos of the Constitution
LSRV (Land Speed Record Vehicle) model are on the site now. It is a ground effects
car with either internal or external front "skeels" (Wheels) that
are essentially a large diameter bearing and race. The outer ring/wheel spins
on the inner race/axle which carries the dynamic load and minimizes centrifugal
mass) of 25" in diameter using a total loss lubrication system pioneered
by Art Arfons. The rear skeels will be about 6 Feet in diameter and will have
super sonic double wedge carbon fiber vertical stabilizer inserts. The rear
wheel/ vertical stabilizers will be anchored to the rear of the car by two 4"
diameter 12' long 4130 chrome moly tubes bent into upswept arches. This ties
the rear wheel/stab drag to the underside-rear of the vehicle, which anchors
the nose. We may run a horizontal airfoil as a variable pitch airbrake but for
right now this is not certain.
The body is a long thin shape with an aspect ratio of over 22. It is 24"
wide at the nose and widens out to 29" at 2/3 body chord. This will allow
a shock to establish at the nose and anchor it on the deck at supersonic speed.
This was pioneered by Ky Michealson and Craig Breedlove on their LSR vehicles
of the 1980s. Ky has come onto the project as a consultant. It is an honor to
have him with us. The long thin ground effects body was race proven by Jack
Costella. His Nebulous Theorum series of vehicles hold more LSR class records
than I can count. I have never talked to him but his genius has always impressed
me. Constitution LSRV is simply a super sonic evolution of his concept. It has
a 2" wide lip around the base of the car to keep boundary layer air from
slipping under the car. As the body is horseshoe shaped if viewed from the nose
all air and shock will be on top of the car keeping it on the ground. The body
will be fabricated of ultra thin stainless steel sheet welded to the space frame
on the two sides and the underside. This makes the vehicle semi monocoque and
uses the whole vehicle as a heat sink. The nose and cockpit area skin will be
fabricated from thin Titanium sheet and lapped over the body as to allow growth
with heat. More next month.....Waldo
