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Ladies and Gentlemen:

It seems that the marine layer just won't go away and so the work on the North American Eagle began with overcast skies and cool temperatures to greet our working team members; Tom Tiede, Ed Shadle, Von Armstrong, Rich Pengelley, Steve Wallace and Chris Greene.  Visiting the hanger and promptly going hands on were Kirk Waage and son, Austin.

The car is high up on blocks and jack stands so that work can be more easily accomplished with belly compartment doors open. A rogue door latch refuses to do the right thing and close properly....resisting all efforts of Tom, Kirk, Chris and Austin to coax it into adjustment.  It will be done....but not today. 

Chris and Austin replaced existing nuts on the loading axle bolts with nut plates that will be welded in place, allowing a quicker and more efficient changeover each time the axles are swapped after loading and unloading.

The power unit for the start cart graciously provided by our sponsor, American Valley Aviation, was recently returned after inspection and deemed ready to go.  Steve and Ed rechecked the circuitry for our usage and Rich Pengelley, the start cart operator, reinstalled it.

The two parachute cannisters are being relocated lower and further inboard to allow the rear fairings to be attached and to improve the airflow dynamics over the rear of the car.  Ed, Von, Kirk and Rich worked on changing out the existing attachment hardware and determining the best positions for the cans.  They are temporarily being held in place with floor jacks awaiting a permanent weld.

Down the line, some empty space in the lower fuselage needs to be filled in with expansion foam that will serve to eliminate the intrusion of lakebed dust and to strengthen the flexibility of the fuelage.

A number of issues need to be settled before our fall speed runs.  Data obtained by the digital scanning of the fuselage is needed before further work can be completed on the positioning of the canards that will safely keep the Eagle on the ground at high speeds, and for final design of rear fairings that will address aerodynamic flow and parachute deployment. They are all interrelated and will determine the success of our run for the world landspeed record, as is the continued support of our many loyal sponsors, for which we are very grateful.

We are still awaiting a call from a major corporate sponsor or individual that will assist us in reaffirming that American ingenuity, determination, innovation and national pride is still in the race. You will find all of these things on this website. Please call.

On the Newsstands

If you own a Falcon Business Jet, then you have seen the North American Eagle in the latest issue of Falconer Magazine, Issue 36 / 2010. If you're not lucky enough to own a multi-million dollar business jet, the you can read The Quest To Be The Fastest Car On Earth written by Grant Kielczewski, Managing Editor on line. It features extraordinary photos of our July 2009 test session at The Black Rock Desert, and tells the story of tenacity and resourcefulness as our team challenges the 763 mph world land speed record.

Intel Solid State Drive Videos

If  you haven't seen them yet now would be a good time to watch the videos we did with Intel promoting their indestructible Solid State Drives.

For All you F-104 Scale Model Builders

Tony Landis from NASA Dryden sent us this information. Rocketeer Decal, a manufacturer of scale model decals now offer a decal sheet that includes turning your 1/72 F-104 model with the livery of 56-0763. Cool huh?

We know a lot of our fans are on facebook.  Now the North American Eagle™ is on facebook!   In fact many of our team members are also!  Tell your friends! It's fun!

We invite you to add a comment, or remark, about our program or the site.

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