June 30, 2012

In this Update:  Magnetic brakes installed; Tail cone slated for repainting; Aerodynamics analyzed; Team NAE reaches out.                                                                                                    

This Week's Featured Sponsors

Ladies and Gentlemen:  At work today:  Von Armstrong, Brandyn and Doug Bayes,  Ed Shadle,  Keith Zanghi, Jon Higley, Jeremiah Avery ,Chris Greene, and Darren Grove. Brandyn invited a couple of his friends, Andrew and Morgan Kirk, and they were promptly put to work.  Later in the day the Kirk boys were joined by their mom, grandma, and more siblings.  The Kirk family took the tour as Chris Greene showed them around the hangar.  Cameras were flashing as the children took turns in the cockpit.

The rear axle has generated plenty of attention these past weeks.  The magnetic array and rotor discs from the braking system were worked over by our good friend and sponsor, Jerry Lamb.  He took them up to his LevX®  plant in Port Angeles and replaced several of the rare earth magnets that had been damaged over the years.  Jerry is THE leading expert in magnetic levitation and he designed our unique  no-contact brakes.  He brought them back down to the hangar during the past week. The major work today included cleaning all the parts, reassembling both brakes, and putting both of the massive rear wheels back on the axle.

Darren Grove came to the hangar equipped with the very fast Lenovo ThinkStation C30 and Pointwise CFD Meshing Software.  Darren is an aerodynamics and CFD expert and has put knowledge and computers together to provide 3-Dimensional modeling and predictive analysis of supersonic air flow.  We need to know where and what forces will buffet the North American Eagle™ jet car during its high speed runs.  Today he revisited the modified axle components; taking measurements and discussing with Ed and Keith additional design work on recommended air foils and fairings.

Our afterburner tests have taken their toll on the tail cone paint.  Large paint flakes are peeling off and a badly needed make over is in the works.

Ed and Jon spent time today at the Garage Plus Crime Stoppers event on Mountain Highway in Spanaway.  Team NAE staffed a display of the car model, posters, and information about our run for the world landspeed record.  See us on our webpage, landspeed.com, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages. Connect via your mobile smartphone through our android app and upcoming iPhone app.

New Lenovo ThinkStation Video

Watch the new Lenovo ThinkStation YouTube video featuring the North American Eagle™   NAE's Steve Wallace edited all the NAE video. Click on the photo of the Lenvo D-Series ThinkStation below and watch the exciting video.

Follow us on Twitter @landspeed763

All home page photos by Eric Wittler of ChasingClouds.net   Thanks Eric!