XCOR EZ-Rocket

The XCOR EZ-Rocket is a test platform for the XCOR rocket propulsion system. The airplane is a modified Rutan Long-EZ, with the propeller replaced by first one, then later a pair of pressure-fed regeneratively cooled liquid-fuelled rocket engines and an underslung fuel tank. The engines are restartable in flight, and are contained within Kevlar armor shielding. The EZ-Rocket is registered as an experimental aircraft.

EZ-Rocket one week after its first flight
Cockpit. Engine on-off switches on left side panel are placarded "FWD - LOUD; BACK - QUIET"

Development and history

The first flight took place on July 21, 2001, flown by test pilot Dick Rutan.[1]

On a typical flight, the EZ-Rocket takes off on rockets, gains altitude for a minute or so, then switches off the rockets and glides to a deadstick landing.

The vehicle actually flies better during deadstick glide landings than a Long-EZ due to lack of drag from a stationary pusher propeller — the vehicle's aerodynamics are cleaner in spite of its belly tank. It is also lighter due to the lack of a piston engine (the rocket propulsion system is significantly lighter), so enjoys significantly lower wing loading than a stock Long-EZ.

When XCOR began flying its EZ-Rocket in 2001, the company decided to have it FAA certified as an experimental aircraft, avoiding the additional time required to seek a launch vehicle license from the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST). Jeff Greason, a co-founder of XCOR, said on February 10, 2003 if they were starting out at that time they probably would seek an AST license due to the progress made in developing a regulatory regime for suborbitals.[2]

Milestones and records
EZ-Rocket, flown by Dick Rutan, touches down at California City, California on December 3, 2005, setting a point-to-point distance record for rocket-powered, ground-launched aircraft.
  • October 8, 2000 - First firing of an XCOR Aerospace LOX-powered rocket engine.[3]
  • July 21, 2001 - First flight, flown by Dick Rutan (single-engine configuration).[3]
  • October 3, 2001 - First flight in twin-engine configuration.[3]
  • June 24, 2002 - First touch-and-go of a rocket-powered aircraft (world record).[3]
  • December 3, 2005 - Set the point-to-point distance record for a ground-launched, rocket-powered aircraft, flying 16 km from Mojave to California City in just under ten minutes, flown by Dick Rutan.[4][5] Also first official delivery of U.S. Mail by a rocket-powered aircraft.[4] In recognition of this achievement, the FAI awarded Rutan the 2005 Louis Blériot Medal.[6]
  • December 15, 2005 - First cross-country return flight of a rocket-powered aircraft in the United States, return flight from California City, piloted by Rick Searfoss.[4]
  • 2008: The XCOR EZ-Rocket X-Racer prototype rocketplane flew at the 2008 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show.[7]

Derivatives

The Rocket Racing League aircraft currently in development, the Mark-III X-racer, is a design descendant of the EZ-Rocket aircraft. Although XCOR is not the developer of the rocket engine for the Mark-III, XCOR did develop the rocket engine for the Mark-I X-Racer, the first of the X-Racers to use a single rocket engine on a Velocity SE basic airframe, and the first X-Racer to utilize kerosene instead of isopropyl alcohol fuel. XCOR used both design and operational experience from the EZ-Rocket in the Mark-I rocket aircraft design.

Specifications
Twin rocket engines
Dick Rutan standing next to the engines of the EZ-Rocket
  • Two XR-4A3 400 lbf (1.8 kN) thrust rocket engines (non throttleable, restartable in flight)[8]
  • 20 sec 500 m takeoff roll
  • Vne = 200 kt
  • climb rate = 52 m/s (10,000 ft/min)
  • maximum altitude = 11,546 ft MSL
  • Fuel: isopropyl alcohol and liquid oxygen
  • Chamber pressure: ~ 350 psi
  • Specific impulse: 250 seconds (2.5 km/s) to 270 seconds (2.6 km/s)
  • Noise: 128 dB at 10 meters[9]

See also

References
  1. Flight Tests Of XCOR’s EZ-Rocket and Progress Toward a Microgravity and Microspacecraft Launcher
  2. http://www.hobbyspace.com/AAdmin/archive/RLV/2003/RLVNews2003-02.html#Feb.11.03
  3. "First Flights - XCOR Aerospace". Mojave Virtual Museum. Archived from the original on 2006-11-10. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  4. Deaver, Bill (2005-12-22). "XCOR EZ-Rocket makes more history at CalCity". Mojave Desert News.
  5. FAI Records Archived March 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. List of Blériot medals awarded to Dick Rutan
  7. XCOR X-Racer, by Nancy Atkinson, Universe Today, 2009-08-06, accessed 2010-04-26.
  8. "LOX-Alcohol Rocket Engine". www.xcor.com. XCOR Aerospace, Inc. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 29, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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