Pilots will compete head to head in the world's first race featuring rocket-powered planes on 1 August 2008, says the Rocket Racing League, which is organising the event.
The Rocket Racing League is a company founded in 2005 by X-Prize Foundation chairman Peter Diamandis and Granger Whitelaw, who has won two Indy 500 races as a team owner. But although the company has made some test flights of rocket planes, no actual races have been held yet.
The company announced on Monday that it has scheduled a demonstration race for 1-2 August in front of thousands of spectators at the EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, US.
Two pilots will fly in the race using identical vehicles built by Velocity Aircraft of Sebastian, Florida, US, a company that the Rocket Racing League today announced it has acquired.
Some of the vehicles, called Rocket Racers, will be powered by rocket engines built by Armadillo Aerospace, based in Mesquite, Texas, US. Armadillo nearly won $350,000 in prize money with flights of a mock lunar lander at the 2007 X-Prize Cup near Alamogordo in New Mexico, US, but its vehicle ran out of fuel just a few seconds shy of its goal. The engine of another of its vehicles exploded on the launch pad in a later attempt for the prize.
Armadillo president John Carmack says the engines used for the Rocket Racers are safer. They are made of tough stainless steel rather than the graphite used in the engines flown at the X Prize Cup.
"I would never claim that anything is foolproof, but we feel pretty good about the engine design and it has some intrinsic safety advantages," he told New Scientist. "We are going to put something like 20 tonnes of propellant through it in all sorts of crazy run sequences before a person flies on it."
Armadillo's engines for the Rocket Racers burn liquid oxygen and ethanol, and provide 8900 newtons (2000 pounds) of thrust. The racers can fly at speeds of up to 560 kilometres per hour.
"Flying people on our rockets has been our goal from day one," says Carmack. "We are excited to work with the Rocket Racing League to provide a system that will be safe for the pilots, cost-effective and robust for the teams, and spectacular for the crowds."
Teams can also choose an alternative engine, built by XCOR Aerospace of Mojave, California, US. The XCOR engine burns liquid oxygen and kerosene, and has a 4.5-metre flame.
The Rocket Racing League says it is following safety guidelines that the US Federal Aviation Administration set out for air shows. To protect spectators, the planes will fly at a safe distance and never directly towards the crowd.
The pilots will follow a virtual track in the sky that they will view with a 3D display mounted in their helmets.
The league is also planning exhibition races in Nevada, US. These will take place during 10-14 September at the Reno National Championship Air Races and on 8-9 November at the Aviation Nation event, Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas.
Six teams have registered to compete in the league when competitive races begin.
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