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The Thanksgiving Holiday Southern Tour is Dedicated to Ed Drumheller II

Team North American Eagle™ would like to thank the following companies for sponsoring our Aerospace Testing Expo 2006, El Mirage Test Session # 5 and The John Force Holiday Auto Show appearance: LEV-X®, PCB Piezotronics, Inc, McVay Mobile Welding, Seattle BioDiesel, Small & Sons Petroleum, Eagle Machine, Inc., and ITR North America. 

November 19, 2006

Ladies & Gentlemen:

After our appearance at the Aerospace Testing Expo in Anaheim, CA, the team and car moved up to the high desert at El Mirage on Friday, the 17th. The Eagle was unloaded and its running suspension was assembled. Fuel was pumped into the main bladder while sensors, cameras, and connections for a myriad of systems were checked by the crew.

Despite our best intentions for making a run before sunset, it was not meant to be. The team settled for an in-the-dark engine run to check various hydraulic pressures, steering responses, and electrical sytem performances. This isn't your standard "kick the tires and light the fire" vehicle. With most everything checking out as expected, the team settled down around our campfire in a half-drum can and imbibed in the usual racers beverage.

Before the sun rose above the horizon the next morning, the team was up and about camp finalizing preparations. Check lists were signed off, cones along the course were laid out for beyond two miles from west to east, and the car was towed out to the starting point before they had a chance to down some breakfast. When you love this sport, food takes second place to getting in a run as soon as possible.

The engine was spooled up from the start cart provided by Amercian Valley Aviation and she came to life. The whine of the rpms gradually increased until idle was reached. A last minute check was done by the start crew, and Crew Chief Bill Eckberg gave Ed Shadle the signal that all was "Go!". Ed applied forward pressure to the throttle and increased the engine's output to beyond 80%. She began to roll easily.

The NAE™ accelerated quickly and her roar could be heard by Crew Lead Jon Higley, stationed at the 2.2 mile point along the course. It was moving along straight and fast (probably in the 225 mph range) as it darted past Higley, who then jumped into his car and down the course to meet the decelerating NAE™. Shortly thereafter, the recovery crew arrived and, after allowing the engine to idle for a while, Ed began shutting her down.

During the run Ed tested the magnetic braking without deploying the parachutes. The world's first magnetic brakes provided by LEV-X® and machined by Eagle Machine, Inc. brought the 7.5 ton vehicle to a stop. This technology, which is revolutionizing the world with magnetic coupling and magnetic levitation vehicles, is now being used to stop the North American Eagle™.

A couple more runs were attempted over the remainder of the day, with Wolfe Air Aviation Limited making a fly-by attempt during one of them. Unfortunately, these both had to be aborted because it was obvious that our hydraulic system was confirming to Ed and team that some specific changes have yet to be made before we can consider it reliable for higher speed runs.

As the team was begining to break down the NAE™ for loading, an unexpected visitor appeared over our camp in a helicopter. After signaling to the helicopter to land, it touched down and two men stepped out; Mario (blue shirt), an Italian flight instructor and his student pilot, Felix Baumgartner - the current world's #1 base jumper from Austria. They spent their time walking around the car asking questions and taking pictures in front of it.

That evening after dark, the semi-tractor/trailer with the NAE™ was parked at the edge of El Mirage on George Callaway's ranch, while the team began the long drive home to the Pacific Northwest and home. They will be returning to the Los Angeles area the first weekend of December to make an appearance at the John Force Auto Show in Yorba Linda.

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