Home of the North American Eagle - World Land Speed Challenger

Since our last installment a lot of miles have been driven by some of the North American Eagle™ Team members.

On Monday, Ed and Keith loaded the S&S Turbine Services jet engine on an auto trailer. The activity took the better part of 2 hours as the two middle aged men had to hand winch the 4,000 lb, 42,500 hp LM 1500 engine up a couple of ramps onto the trailer. The law of nature eventually proved itself again as they learned if you throw enough sweat at something it finally comes around!

The following morning the two got up at 5:00 AM and headed North to Abbottsford, BC. Along the way the two met up with Bernard and his son Chad near Everett, WA and the two vehicles proceeded up Interstate-5. About two hours down the road the trailer carrying the engine had a flat tire. Luckily the team found a local Les Schwab Tire Store. The time spent was very productive as the four sketched out on the back of a napkin a design for an engine removal tool as they waited for the tires to be replaced. This is a good time to let you know that Mark at the Les Schwab Tires in Spanaway, WA has been helping the team for years with assorted tire related items. Many times we bring aircraft, trailer, truck and equipment tires and they always fix them for free. After an hour getting the tires changed, the group finally arrived at the border cross in Abbottsford, BC around noon. The team is getting to be well known at the border as evident that both countries now refer to us as those “Jet Car Guys!”

In the parking lot of Eagle Machine, Inc., the team transferred the trailer over to the McVay Mobile Welding truck as Bernard and Chad continued on the long road to Fort St. John several hundred miles north. They got as far as Prince George by nightfall and spent the night there for some much needed sleep.

Wednesday Bernard and Chad got up early and arrived at S&S Turbines about 12 noon. There, S&S Turbine Serivices crew unloaded the engine and placed it on their assembly tool for dismantling. By Thursday evening most of the engine had been dismantled (look for a full and in-depth engine report in an upcoming update).

Early this morning Bernard and Chad, fighting 12 inches of newly dumped snow and –25 degree weather, headed out on the long trek back to Seattle. If people reading the website are wondering if we will ever be able to break the world land speed record you have to ask yourself…how could we not with the dedication and effort put in by team members like Bernard and Chad. Every team member in their own way put’s in the effort, whether we publish it or not.

Besides the above, a lot of other important activity was taking place. Jon Higley and Glenn Amy, besides taking care of the website, will be wearing some additional hats for the project. The two of them will be putting a lot of effort into the Public Relations part of the project. They will be working on press releases and stories for magazine publications. With Glenn’s business and computer background and Jon’s Masters in Education they should be able to expand it and do an even better job. As those stories are published we will let you know. With 30 members on the team we are all finding and refining our own involvement. As we move closer to record runs Ed’s role will move more and more towards the driving portion and Keith will move towards sponsor involvement and expanding the business.

Speaking of publications a two page story has appeared in the nationwide publication: Airport Journals. This newspaper is published once a month and is sold under 10 different regional editions. Written by S. Clayton Moore, it has been published in all ten publication editions. You can find it at your local airport or FBO under the names:

Special thanks this week goes to the team at S&S Turbine Services in Fort St. John, BC. As you read this update Robin Sipe, Allen Von Hollen, Dave Wood, Lane McCabe and Brian Maddigan of S&S Turbine Services, are busy rebuilding the engine. When done they will put it on the test stand and run it up to full afterburner.

At this point we seem to be a little ahead of schedule. It’s looking like we should have the engine re-installed and tested by the end of January. That first week of February will see us shoot the final filming for Discovery Canada. So tomorrow we will have our regular Saturday work party. Look for an update from Jon in another couple of days. So long for now.

Interested in helping us make history and bring the record back to North America? Here's how!

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