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Mojave, CA - The evening sun was just caressing the Tehachapi Mountains at the Mojave Civilian Flight Test Center in late July. It was another beautiful sunset in Mojave. But all was not quiet. Not far from the flight line, you could hear another engine test of the first EZ-Rocket preparing for her first manned test flight. After more than six months of successful tests and operation checks, the EZ-Rocket was ready to taxi to the runway for the first test flight. At the controls was veteran test pilot Dick Rutan. "After I fired the rocket engines, the engines came smoothly to full thrust, and the aircraft rapidly accelerated to flying speed," recalled Rutan. "I rotated the aircraft, lifted off, and flew for a few hundred feet under absolute rocket power. I shut the engines down, glided in to land, and rolled to a stop. All systems operated normally." The EZ-Rocket (modified experimental Long-EZ) is a research and development test bed for two 400 pound thrust rocket engines that were designed and built by XCOR Aerospace. The company is developing safe and reusable rocket propulsion for commercial aerospace applications. For additional information, visit www.xcor.com or CNN.  Check in often for news of additional flight tests and more photos. |