Hesperia, California (January 25, 1998) - Waldo Stakes has left California for the cold air of Wisconsin. He should arrive in Wisconsin around January 31st or February 1st. Stops are planned along the way in New Mexico and Illinois, to pick up rocket engineer Ken Mason and visit his parents respectively.
Stakes plans to be in Wisconsin for testing through Sunday February 8th.
The first days will be spent preparing and surveying the course, as well as make final preparations to the rocket and sled. A photo session will also be done by motorsports photographer John R. Liskey. The plan is to then spend many days "push-testing" the vehicle around the lake, unpowered, to test various systems and vehicle design. Near the end of the week, if all goes well, a couple of static test-firings will be done to make sure the rocket is working properly. Plans call for one or two powered runs, piloted by Stakes, in the last days of testing. A successful 3-second run is the final goal of the week, which will produce an estimated top speed around 150mph.
While our fans may be disappointed in the limited number of runs and relatively low speeds, the goal of this years testing is clear. This is a very dangerous game, from the high speeds to the use of incredible rocket power. Many questions (logistical, technical, and otherwise) need to be answered. Many of the "How will you..." questions e-mailed to us by fans, need to be answered. We don't have answers to many of these questions. Noone has ever done this before. The goal is to find out how one prepares for and runs a rocket sled on ice, so we are fully prepared for future testing, when hopefully more runs will take place, and the emphasis will shift from logistics and safety, to safety and speed.
Secondary goals are to test the basic systems, theories and vehicle design of the sled. Will it go straight? Will the sled even steer? Will the "ice rake" brake system, used under 100mph, work? Will push-starts work? Will they be needed? Will Waldo have enough field of vision? There are many questions to be answered. Challenges will no doubt arise, but that is what this upcoming week is for, to find solutions and be better prepared for future years.
We plan to bring you results from the first ever piloted runs of Sonic Wind within 12-24 hours after it happens. A full report on the week will soon follow. Pictures from testing will be online as soon as possible.
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