Imagine for a moment, that you are looking out from the cockpit of a state of the art rocket-powered aircraft. The flag has yet to go down, and you are waiting with intense anticipation. All around you a vast crowd is yelling team slogans and various professions of support for you. Suddenly you see the countdown begin, and you brace yourself. 3...2...1 *Whoooooooosh* you engage the twin thrusters of your vehicle, and are pressed back in your seat as you accelerate to a top speed of around 400 kph (350 mph). You hold your line, aware of the nine other racers above, below...all around you, like you, following the 3d paths sent to their individual HUD's inside their helmets. 4 laps later, your adrenaline ebbing, you eke out the final burst of power from your engines and scream over the finish line. You have won, you are a hero.
Anyone who thought the pod-racing was the coolest thing (apart from darth-maul's lightsaber) in Star Wars Ep1 listen up!
Enter the Rocket Racing League: an up and coming sports and entertainment league that will provide a platform for high-powered LOx (liquid oxygen)and kerosene ran rocket-planes who will clash ailerons with each other around a fast-paced 3d aerial racing circuit.
Granted, there will be few if any pod-racer style courses with close calls through canyons and the like, but I can see this kind of thing being added along the way as the competition evolves.
Founded in 2005 by two-time Indianapolis 500 champion team owner Granger Whitelaw and aerospace pioneer and X PRIZE Foundation founder Dr. Peter Diamandis, the league promises a virtual nascar of the air. See the video below for a sneaky peak at this exciting future competition.
As a fan of both rocketry and aviation, this video gets me giggling like a three year old girl. Imagine the mid-air collision mayhem!
I believe the league is set to have its first season in 2010, with hour and a half long races, with 6-10 races throughout the season, each race involving up to 10 rocket-planes!
Until then...
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