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Off the clock: Chasing the land-speed record

By - Connie McDougall, Seattle City Light Network Editor

By day, he's a mild-mannered computer guy in City Light's Information Technology Division. By night (and on weekends), Glenn Amy is part of a team dedicated to setting a land-speed record in a jet-car dubbed the North American Eagle. No small ambition since the current record is 763 miles per hour set by a British team in 1997. The Eagle's goal is nothing less than 800 miles an hour.

Glenn joined the effort about four years ago after meeting one of the Eagle's owners, Ed Shadle. When Glenn said he'd like to get involved, the owner, who also doubles as the driver, had just one question for him: "What are you most comfortable with, a drill or a hammer?"

A computer applications developer at City Light, Glenn lends a hand in many ways. He assists with work on the engines, helps keep the Eagle's Web site updated, and even sells Eagle T-shirts and hats for fund raising. "Most of all, I like being with the individuals involved," Glenn says. "Everyone is there because they want to be. It's just fun hanging out with the guys." That includes fellow City employee, Sean Rondestvedt with the Seattle Fire Department.

The machine they've set their hopes on is impressive - a retired, rehabbed, repainted F-104 originally built in 1957. The jet was once used as a chase vehicle for the X-15 rocket program.

Painted fire-engine red with the image of a speeding eagle on its side, the jet-car is powered by a 39,000 horsepower General Electric turbojet engine taken from an F-4 Phantom jet. Just last month, the crew tested that engine and it performed flawlessly. The next weekend, they tested the braking system. "Everything went perfectly, so Ed lit the afterburner and reached 312 mph! They're taking this whole project in small steps," says Glenn, who expects the land-speed run for the record will come in 2006, but possibly sooner, this fall.

What he calls "the car," or alternately, "the beast," has already gained attention, featured in The Seattle Times, the local television show Northwest Weekend, as well as the Discovery Channel.

Publicity is good but for Glenn, it's more about people. "I value those that I've met and talked to through this project. I once answered an email from an 8th grader who had questions about his science project on `CO2' cars. That was great."

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