Home of the North American Eagle - World Land Speed Challenger

I had a suspicion that it might take this long and it's turned out my suspicions were correct. It's been 10 years since this project began; shortly after the British ThrustSSC slammed the record out of the ball park. Why has it taken so long? Well, I'll put it this way... how many projects do you know of that challenge such an ominously dangerous task and are NOT financed by either a millionaire, or a mega-corporation, like Texiron, that throws "pocket change" at it?

This project, from day one, has most likely been THE ONLY one at this level that has been developed by a couple of guys who could be considered "hot rodders" with a vision. How can I say that? I know, I've been there by their side for these past ten years (in fact, I met them two years prior on another project) while they scraped by on nickles and dimes putting this baby together in a "garage." I dare say, a project of this nature may well be THE last one to ever be pursued by a group like it, in light of the way things in the world of business are going these days. In other words, if any do happen in the future, they will be done with existing "state of the art" equipment, tools, and technology, with money not being an obsticle.

As I've predicted in the past, this project's momentum has been gathering speed; accelerating just like the car will once it goes for the record. Over the past year a major hurdle was negotiated successfully - the manufacturing of all metal wheels capable of going at speeds necessary to take that record. Also, some major sponsor have come on board to support our efforts. The most significant of these are the involvement of a team of THE world's premier aerodynamicist, CFD and wind tunnel specialists. These guys are currently conducting analysis of data from our earlier digital mapping of the vehicle to determine precisely what we need to do to the rear suspension on the vehicle for transonic and supersonic stability. This will also be cross checked with a wind tunnel model analysis against the CFD analysis to confirm everything. It should prove interesting, to say the least.

Yes, despite the long haul, things are finally coming together. This next year should be the year!

For the first time in the life of the project, three of our team members have not only gone overseas to give a presentation about the project, but their trip over to France and stay there were paid by our sponsor. This is certainly a step up in the prestige of the project. Now hopefully we'll soon get news that a financial sponsor has stepped forward and given us what's needed to get us to the final phase; a shot at the record.

But first, with the cooperation of the weather in the months to come, we plan on conducting an engine run to make sure it will go into afterburner. If not, we'll have to pursue whatever is necessary to remedy that challenge.

One of our team members is trying to bring onto the team an individual who has experience in managing and coordinating large projects such as our is. If that comes around, then Ed & Keith can step into a more appropriate role of driver and operations director respectively.

Looking ahead to next spring, the possibility is being explored for conducting another test run in southern California's high desert. Should these arrangements work out to our favor, a trip down south will most likely occur in April or May. Cross your fingers!

What an experience! After spending four and a half days out on the Black Rock desert playa I can understand why others have spoken about it the way they have. It's both a very beautiful and hostile place.

Because of its vastness, you are exposed to harsh thermal energy from the sun when there are no clouds and you can burn very quickly if you don't take measures to prevent it. Also, there's the very fine grain powder of the silt that makes up the playa; it gets into everything! When a weather front comes in over the region, there are no nearby natural obstructions to impede the wind that comes with the change in pressure that occurs when temperatures change. The resulting dust storms that kick up and blow into your eyes and hair are unbelieveable and unforgiving.

While the trip did meet two of its three main objectives for the test session, I was personally disappointed that the car didn't get the chance to stretch its legs and get up into the 400 & 500mph range that it could with the new all metal wheels we'd just put on it. But, that's just the nature of this type of endeavor; you have no guarantee that things will work out as hoped and you have to keep a balanced attitude about it.

Hopefully next spring will reveal that conditions are conducive for the team to go down once again to Black Rock and conduct another test session during good weather conditions.

Well, we're down to the wire now. Very possilby I'll be making a run up north this Friday with the new rear wheels in the back of my pickup truck to deliver them to our machine shop in Abbotsford, BC. so final work can be done on them and a last minute fitting can be done to make sure everything is going to work as expected.

This experience of being out on the playa of Black Rock desert should prove interesting, to say the least. Hopefully the weather won't be too much of a problem with conducting tests and everything goes fairly smoothly with the car; no steering problems and the wheels prove worthy of their reputation.

The collection of journal entries and images on the digital camera will be something else to wade through after the test session is over. It should, however, make for some very interesting material for this site.

Well, when your contender for the record goes missing, it certainly puts quite a wrinkle into the situation. Having not been found after nearly two full weeks, it's not looking good that he'll be found alive. We certainly hope that doesn't turn out to be the case.

While it would seem the pressure to get the car ready as soon as possible would be "off" that would not be any further from the truth. The team has never felt as though we were pressed to beat our contender to the record. We've always looked at the project with a patient, but steady approach to getting the work done necessary to make the car as safe as possible without making time a factor. Otherwise, when venturing into the realm of supersonic speeds, you're courting with trouble and possible disaster. We prefer avoiding that at all costs.

Because we've been dependent on those who've offered the project their services, donations, time, or a combination of two or all three to move it forward, the last six months have progressed along at a much slower rate than we'd hoped for. This has occurred in part due to the fact that there were several critical elements invovled in the collaborative effort between many companies coordinating the manufacturing of the high-speed wheels and the acquisition of bearings which will handle the stresses and pressures that will be part of such blistering speeds we'll be going eventually. These types of things are often beyond anyone's control and involve more patience and persistent nuturing than anything else.

However, many years ago, Ed, Keith and I were well aware that we would eventually find ourselves in such a position because we would be relying on the generosity of those who learned of our vision and believed it was possible to achieve enough to jump on board and play their role in the multi-faceted process. It is very heartening to learn that there are still people in our country who recognize the value something like this project has and the potential boost in pride it can bring to their fellow countrymen, should we succeed. For that, we will be forever grateful to those who've joined us in our quest.

With things happening so slowly over the summer, there hasn't been a whole lot to tell. Yes, we've been making progress, but it's mostly been either very gradual, or it's not something I can disclose in this format.

Let's just say that one doesn't want to reveal their hand too much when playing poker with the competition.

What's that? You say you're not aware of any competition? Well, for us, it's a matter of a "Johnny Come Lately" who thinks it's a matter of throwing enough money at it and you've got it. But, it's much more than that.

However, what I can say is that things are starting to come together. We've got our high speed wheels being built, our hydraulic system has been fixed and we're making progress in the electrical department as well. Our plans are to conduct another test session sometime before the end of this year, but it's a given that a record attempt is not in the cards for this year. Next year? Well, that's a possibility, but not a certainty.

One thing you can count on in this sport; there's never a certainty to anything, because you never know what will happen when.

My how things change with the passage of a little time. While some things seem to hardly move when it comes to things happening as you'd expect, other things just seem to dissolve before your eyes and are no longer an issue.. Some people say things they don't really mean, and other mean what they don't really say. Trust me, it's not the first time we've had this happen, and it most certainly won't be the last.

I know, I know... you're thinking to yourself, "What the h_ll is this guy talking about?" Well, since I'm not at liberty to divulge the details, I must speak cryptically for now. Suffice it to say that our potential change I spoke about earlier has evaporated, and yet in an other area of the project, we were promised something that would have given the project a boost forward, and it turned out to be an empty one that's put the project back into the same position it was earlier; scrambling for filling the void.

Still, we press on; slowly but surely making progress and shifting our timeline as we go, because we don't give up easily and believe we've still go a good shot at going for it. All the while, I'm hoping that what could occur later this year, doesn't, when it comes a contender. Hopefully, we'll be able to conduct another test session and prove our viability so that a sponsor steps up to the plate and chips in their support. It sure would make things happen much quicker and easily.

Even so, I wouldn't be surprised that there may well be things going on in the background which are happening to spring the project forward; changing the whole dynamics of the project's progress and eventual outcome. Only time will tell.

Yes, it has been a long time since I last put an entry onto this page; and for good reason. Last December's weather was such that a lot of extra time became available unexpectedly with not being able to work.

With the growing awareness that it would be necessary to begin building a new web site for this project, I decided to put my time and energies into doing just that. So, here you have it.

Now, I realize you're probably thinking to yourself, "Man, did it take him that long to rebuild it?" to which my answer would be, "Yes, and No." No, because I had the bulk of the contents done by January. Yes, because I had to wait patiently for the momentum to build sufficiently with those involved in the transition process to act on the request. So, you see, it's not always as clear cut as one would like to assume.

As to the progress of getting the necessary changes done to the car are concerned, most things are coming along fairly well. However, there are some setbacks (what's new). In order to deal with an undesired circumstance which has developed, we are considering a move that the owners of the project have been trying to avoid for its duration. While I won't be specific about exactly what this move might be, suffice it to say that if we do go through with it, it will be fairly obvious to everyone if and when it's revealed.

I will only hint that it is one of those realities which comes part and parcel to a project like this that is fueled mostly by a group of guys with plenty of vision and passion, but none of what it takes to make it happen. Those who've been involved in the sport of land speed racing for most of their lives will understand my cryptic words of truth and know exactly what I'm getting at.

Then again, we may end up biting the bullet and pressing on as we have for years now, hoping that a miracle manifests itself in the form of some individual who learns about us and lends a helping hand to eliminate the problem.

It must be nice to not have to worry about this problem, like someone else we know.

Interested in helping us make history and bring the record back to North America? Here's how!

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