The X-Prize Cup Experience

are you franklin ratliff ? just kidding, i think this is the first good idea involving rocket cars ever to be posted on the forum, and we've had alot of posts on them.

... wtf is with this ip address: 216.87.63.***, it seems that virtually everyone has posted from it. is it some sort of proxy for something?

EDIT: i guess it is, that's weird. sigurd can explain it i'm sure *hint, hint*.
[admin message: just a forum script mistake on the new web server]

Thanks for the thumbs-up.

Well... Would it be doable?

Considering this would be a multi-days Cup, and the place having runways,...

But what about regulations (sigh...)

Imagine Armadillo, with their 'invisible flame' going *real fast*
Or Xcor, demonstrating the SS1 engines on the ground...

I think you couldn't really do 2 by 2 races? If one car is behind the other, the exhaust fumes (and arguably flames) would be considered too big a risk? Or would that be part of the thrill?

I thought about racing on the ground, because it is 'easier' to film, and makes sure the sponsors get enough cool pictures of their brandnames on the vehicules' fuselage, much easier than filming a rocket...

The XPrize Cup will be about breaking each other records, so no team has to fly/test at the same time.

: Space race rules


: For the X Prize Cup, teams will compete for cash prizes in each of
: the following five categories:


: * Fastest turn-around time
: * Maximum number of passengers carried in one flight
: * Total number of passengers carried during the entire X Prize Cup
: event
: * Maximum altitude attained
: * Fastest flight time from take-off to landing

: An overall winner, based on total points scored in each competition,
: will also be chosen and awarded the X Prize Cup Trophy, which the
: winner will retain for one year.

Yeah, we know. The trick is getting it to look like that, with all the lights and signs and (especially) people.

Oh, and since when was Discraft supposed to be that big?

And Rxke: I like the rocket-car idea -- as TerraMrs said, it's the first good idea posted here involving them. Although I'd imagine the races would be one-on-one, due to the heat of the exhaust (jets never fly one directly behind the other in formation for airshows; the rear plane is always at least about fifty feet lower -- otherwise the forward plane's exhaust would melt the rear one's windscreen) and the nature of the sport: if one of the forward cars malfunctions and comes to any kind of stop (much less a sudden one), both of the rear cars are pretty well screwed.

Sigurd: granted that the main events are the actual competitions, but teams can still show off their hardware, and do test demonstrations for "concept vehicles". If nothing else, it'll help fill up otherwise dead time.

I really think this is a great idea. Most of the people there will love to see anything that goes really fast Someone should talk to Peter about this and see if we can get it working.

It probably will be an -additional- legal and paperwork nightmare, though...

I'm European, (hence my seriously less than perfect and confusing sentences, heh...)
so I don't know much about the technicalities of Drag Racing etc. I only know that it is *BIG* sponsor- and televisioncoveragewise...

But *BIG* probably means quite stringent rules/protectionistic stuff regarding who can organize such things etc.
The chicken w/ the golden eggs stuff. You can't have amateurs stealing the limelight, can you?

Well if nothing else, the jetcars would probably just attract even more people. I know they have a pretty big following down here.

and airboats too

Airboats.........


...........In New Mexico......................


...........................Heh.

hehe good point on that one... sand boats maybe?