XCOR EZ-Rocket
The XCOR EZ-Rocket is a test platform for the XCOR rocket propulsion system. The airplane is a modified Rutan Long-EZ, with the propeller replaced by first one, then later a pair of pressure-fed regeneratively cooled liquid-fuelled rocket engines and an underslung fuel tank. The engines are restartable in flight, and are contained within Kevlar armor shielding. The EZ-Rocket is registered as an experimental aircraft.
Development and history
The first flight took place on July 21, 2001, flown by test pilot Dick Rutan.
On a typical flight, the EZ-Rocket takes off on rockets, gains altitude for a minute or so, then switches off the rockets and glides to a deadstick landing.
The vehicle actually flies better during deadstick glide landings than a Long-EZ due to lack of drag from a stationary pusher propeller — the vehicle's aerodynamics are cleaner in spite of its belly tank. It is also lighter due to the lack of a piston engine (the rocket propulsion system is significantly lighter), so enjoys significantly lower wing loading than a stock Long-EZ.
XCOR registered the EZ-Rocket as an experimental airplane, rather than as a launch vehicle, to demonstrate that a rocket powered airplane could successfully be regulated by the aviation sude of the FAA.
Milestones and records
- October 8, 2000 - First firing of an XCOR Aerospace LOX-powered rocket engine.[1]
- July 21, 2001 - First flight, flown by Dick Rutan (single-engine configuration).[1]
- October 3, 2001 - First flight in twin-engine configuration.[1]
- June 24, 2002 - First touch-and-go of a rocket-powered aircraft (world record).[1]
- December 3, 2005 - Set the point-to-point distance record for a ground-launched, rocket-powered aircraft, flying 16 km from Mojave to California City in just under ten minutes, flown by Dick Rutan.[2][3] Also first official delivery of U.S. Mail by a rocket-powered aircraft.[2] In recognition of this achievement, the FAI awarded Rutan the 2005 Louis Blériot Medal.[4]
- December 15, 2005 - First cross-country return flight of a rocket-powered aircraft in the United States, return flight from California City, piloted by Rick Searfoss.[2]
- 2008: The XCOR EZ-Rocket X-Racer prototype rocketplane flew at the 2008 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show.[5]
Derivatives
The Rocket Racing League aircraft currently in development, the Mark-III X-racer, is a design descendant of the EZ-Rocket aircraft. Although XCOR is not the developer of the rocket engine for the Mark-III, XCOR did develop the rocket engine for the Mark-I X-Racer, the first of the X-Racers to use a single rocket engine on a Velocity SE basic airframe, and the first X-Racer to utilize kerosene instead of isopropyl alcohol fuel. XCOR used both design and operational experience from the EZ-Rocket in the Mark-I rocket aircraft design.
Specifications
- Two XR-4A3 400 pounds-force (1.8 kN) thrust rocket engines (non throttleable, restartable in flight)[6]
- 20 sec 500 m takeoff roll
- Vne = 200 kt
- climb rate = 52 m/s (10,000 ft/min)
- maximum altitude = 11,546 ft MSL
- Fuel : isopropyl alcohol and liquid oxygen
- Chamber pressure : ~ 350 psi
- specific impulse : 250 to 270 seconds
- Noise: 128 dB at 10 meters[7]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 "First Flights - XCOR Aerospace". Mojave Virtual Museum. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
- 1 2 3 Deaver, Bill (2005-12-22). "XCOR EZ-Rocket makes more history at CalCity". Mojave Desert News.
- ↑ FAI Records Archived March 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ List of Blériot medals awarded to Dick Rutan
- ↑ XCOR X-Racer, by Nancy Atkinson, Universe Today, 2009-08-06, accessed 2010-04-26.
- ↑ "LOX-Alcohol Rocket Engine". www.xcor.com. XCOR Aerospace, Inc. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to XCOR EZ-Rocket. |
- The EZ-Rocket (XCOR)
- howstuffworks: How the EZ-Rocket Works
- Rocket Racing League
- XCOR First Flights from Mojave Virtual Museum