The Sonic Wind team is made up of a truly amazing group of people. Ken Mason is no exception. A bi-propellant rocket engineer, Ken got hooked on model rockets and airplanes at a very young age, and proved to be a prodigy of rocketry. By the time he was just 7 years old, he built and fired his first solid rocket motor. Within 5 years, Ken progressed to liquid engines running on gaseous oxygen and gasoline, producing 5 pounds of thrust. Ken was firing 100 pound thrust rockets soon after.
By the time he finished high school, Ken had obtained an old Atlas vernier engine, as well as an Atlas sustainer engine, which is seven feet tall and capable of 57,000 pounds of thrust. Ken was a diehard "rocket addict" by this time, machining his own rocket components and having done over 50 static test firings of his two newest acquisitions, using gaseous oxygen and gasoline.
The vernier engine was producing 350 pounds of thrust, but that wasn't enough. Ken got a big break when he met Bob Truax after appearing on a local TV show during one of his test firings. Truax was building Evil Kneivel's rocket car for his attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon. Truax took Ken to the next level, showing him how to use the much more explosive liquid oxygen, among other things.
Ken continued to work with and learn from Truax, including liquid rocket projects funded by the Navy.
Today, Ken unquestionably has one of the largest collections of antique rocket engines on the planet, including LR-11's, X-15 engines, a Bell X2 sustainer engine, XLR-99 engines, and his prize Marquardt RCS Reaction Control engine, such as the ones used on the Lunar Excursion Modules left on the Moon.
Ken's partnership with Waldo Stakes began at a time when they needed each others help. Waldo needed an engine to power Sonic Wind, and Ken needed help at that time negotiating for the purchase of his four X-15 engines. Waldo, driving a hard bargain with the owners, drove the price for Ken down $7,500. Ken returned the favor by giving an engine to Waldo.
The rest is history, and the two have formed a tight bond.
"Without him I wouldn't have been able to get a propulsion system for Sonic Wind," said Stakes. "He's like a brother to me."
Unlike many collectors of rare and one-of-a-kind stuff, Ken doesn't let his collection gather dust, firing them several times a year to satisfy his craving. No longer a young prodigy, these days Ken is better known as a "Modern-day Robert Goddard.".
Today Ken runs his own business, designing and building liquid rockets for both the private and military sectors. He continues to be an integral part of Sonic Wind's propulsion development.
Residence: New Mexico
Occupation: Rocket Propulsion Engineer Consultant
Other Hobbies: Astronomy, Lasers, Chemistry
What he admires in others: Integrity
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