XCOR Aerospace said Tuesday that its rocket engine test-bed, the XCOR EZ-Rocket, performed a “touch-and-go” maneuver, yesterday, Monday, June 24, at their test facility at the Mojave Airport in Mojave, CA. The “touch-and-go” maneuver was the first time ever for a rocket-powered airplane
The EZ-Rocket took off at 7:40 am and as XCOR test pilot Dick Rutan flew over the Mojave Airport he shut down both engines in flight. Rutan then brought the plane in to a power off landing on runway 30, touched down and rolled along the runway for several hundred feet. Rutan reignited the engines and took off, completing the “touch-and-go”. The tenth flight of the EZ-Rocket lasted seven minutes 47 seconds and reached an altitude of 5,850 ft.(1783 meters).
“Being able to perform a ‘touch-and-go’ further demonstrates our goal of safe and routine rocket-powered vehicle operation,” said Jeff Greason, XCOR’s CEO. “If you are going to fly with any kind of regularity you need to be able to safely abort a landing. The ability to reignite the engines and change your initial landing dramatically increases the safety of the vehicle allowing more routine operations. The EZ-Rocket’s ‘touch-and-go’ helps demonstrate our capabilities.”
XCOR’s test pilot, Dick Rutan, Lt. Col. USAF Ret., will be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame this summer. Rutan is a decorated combat pilot and is world renowned for the non-stop, round the world Voyager flight. The EZ-Rocket is America’s first privately built, liquid fueled, rocket powered airplane and has set major milestones demonstrating routine operations of a rocket-powered vehicle. XCOR will demonstrate the EZ-Rocket during AirVenture 2002 in Oshkosh, WI.
