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Ladies and Gentlemen:

Back from last Saturday's awesomely loud afterburner test at Sanderson Field in Shelton, WA, the North American Eagle™ remained in her trailer during the week and awaited yet another roll down the ramps today. Team  members met  to unload and perform more after run maintenance and system checks. On hand today were Bill Eckberg, Ed Shadle, Von Armstrong, Sean Rondestvedt, Steve Wallace, Sam Yellowbird, Larry Martinson, Omar Chramosta, Tom Tiede, Chris Greene, Keith Zanghi, Dave Selby and John Drury.

Always with work to be done, the team got right on it and the car was soon back in the hangar and the engine readied  for inspection.  The engine team members, Bill, Sean , Dave and Ed, disconnected the various electrical fittings and fuel lines and linkages. The huge 45,500 hp turbo jet engine from S&S Turbine Services Ltd was soon back on the cart.

Chris and Keith replaced some inspection panels on the fuselage and Keith did some welding on the loading ramp stand that will make the alignment of the ramps easier.  While he was in the welding mood, Keith and Larry welded a mounting plate on the engine cart.  Larry donated an unused power winch that can be mounted on the cart to aid in the engine removal process.

Steve did some final installation work on the front wheel steering sensor. He and Von then checked the response by the sensor to steering movements.

Tom made adjustments to the location of the igniter box on the engine.  There is very close tolerance between the engine and the fuselage when sliding the engine out or back in place.  Everything must be located exactly to avoid damage.

Team driver and loadmaster, John Drury, came by toward the end of the work day to help load up the trailer with equipment that is removed when the car is transported.  After everything was strapped down he drove the big rig back to Spanaway Airport.

Next week we will also bring the American Valley Aviation M32-60B start cart over and apply external power to check further systems.

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!

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