Eagle's Lair
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September 13, 2007

Ladies & Gentlemen:

Ed Shadle is hoping the future meets the past when he takes the early steps in October toward breaking the world land speed record in the Black Rock Desert in 2008.

Before the Black Rock, which is about 120 miles north of Reno, became known for the Burning Man celebration, it was a place to break the world land speed record. Shadle will test his North American Eagle, a F-104 Starfighter converted into a vehicle that stays on land, in medium-speed runs at the Black Rock from Oct. 13-20.

Members of the ThrustSSC team from Britain will also be in the desert to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the current record that was set when Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green drove the vehicle 763.035 mph on Oct. 15, 1997, Shadle said.

The 66-year old from Spanaway, Wash., who retired from IBM in 1996 after 31 years, said Wednesday he won't come close to record speeds this year, but plans to return to the Black Rock in 2008 if he can find necessary funding. To break the mark, he would have to go one percent faster than the existing mark, which would be at least 771 mph, but he has also set a goal to become the first driver to break 800 mph.

Shadle said he has tried to make his vehicle as safe as he can, but knows the risks. At 66, he's often asked why he's taking the risks, including in an AARP Magazine interview.

"Well, I said (to AARP), there's guys that lay on the couch and just wait to die," Shadle said Wednesday. "If I die, I'm going to die having fun. I'm not going to die on the couch, just waiting and watching television. I still feel comfortable with that (reflexes). I fly. I still drive cars at the Bonneville Salt Flats. So far, everything is working."

Shadle's pursuit of the land speed record is far from a death wish. In fact, he said he's told his team members to observe him closely to see that he's performing as a high-level driver. And he is open to criticism.

"I told them, 'If you guys think I ought not to do this and I should go find some young stud or, who knows, a young girl, and put them in the cockpit, then fine let's do that,'" Shadle said, "I said, 'Meanwhile, I'll barge ahead until you guys tell me.'"

Although it will be a reunion of some ThrustSSC team members, Green and Richard Noble, who was the program's director and also had set the world land speed record at 633.468 mph as a driver at the Black Rock in 1983, won't attend. They had previous commitments, said Shadle.

"We're expecting to run somewhere between 300 and about 575," the driver predicted, of his October runs. "We've limited ourselves to 575 because of the aerodynamic studies we've done on it. Without fairings on it I believe that might be a little risky.

"Our main mission right now is to basically check out our high-speed wheels and some of the other functions on board, ... and see how the handling is at the higher speed. Once we get to 575 we need to have all the aerodynamics, the fairings done, those types of things. We're currently working on that."

Shadle said 2008 appears to be the best time to go after the record, for both financial reasons and the condition of the course.

"We don't even know (what it's going to cost for sure)," Shadle said. "I'm guessing it's going to cost, just for the record attempt, half a million bucks. One advantage we have, having that F-104 Starfighter as opposed to having a hand-made vehicle is we are able to get into the aerospace crowd. I think that's one of the avenues we're going to have to get into for some kind of financial support."

He said the desert course probably wouldn't sustain a record run this year.

"We've gone out and surveyed the Black Rock Desert," Shadle said. "Right now the surface is not good enough to go really fast. The best surface out there is around October, getting toward November. This was a very dry year so they've got about two inches of dust. It would take a lot of course preparation to be able to go fast out there."

Shadle also had expected adventurer Steve Fossett, who went missing in a small plane 11 days ago on a flight during which he was looking for alternates sites, to be working toward setting a land speed record in his Sonic Arrow this fall.

"That (the condition of the Black Rock) is probably why Steve Fossett was out looking for alternate sites, trying to find something that didn't have a lot of things on the surface," Shadle said.

Shadle said he and Fossett have never met, but have traded e-mails about their respective projects.

The Black Rock has been the most logical site for record runs since Noble arrived for his first record attempt in 1983. Previously, the site of choice was Bonneville Speedway in Utah. But as world land speed vehicles got faster they began to outgrow Bonneville, which Shadle said is only 10 miles in length.

In contrast, the Black Rock is 18 or 19 miles in length. Shadle said ThrustSSC only used 14 miles. But the extra length could make a difference if something went wrong.

Shadle has been pursuing the world record since 1996. His first vehicle, American Eagle I, wasn't safe enough at higher speeds, which led to him to the F-104.

But the American Eagle I did get him attention. Just this week, he said he saw a rerun of the "Regis and Kelly" that showed the American Eagle I in New York City.

When Shadle is in the Black Rock in October and 2008, weather is a potential problem. Runs could be shut down.

"People ask me, 'When are you going for the record?'" Shadle said. "There are two things that control the whole deal, mother nature and money.

"Technologically, we're in pretty good shape. When it comes to money, we don't have it. When it comes to mother nature, it's pretty fickle."

But come October, he hopes to start sneaking up on the world land speed record.. 

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