XCOR EZ-Rocket: Difference between revisions

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EZ-Rocket one week after its first flight

Cockpit. Engine on-off switches on left side panel are placarded "FWD - LOUD; BACK - QUIET"

The XCOR EZ-Rocket was a test platform for the XCOR XR-4A3 rocket propulsion system. The airplane was a modified Rutan Long-EZ, with the propeller replaced by first one, then later a pair of pressure-fed regeneratively cooled liquid-fueled rocket engines and an underslung fuel tank. The engines were restartable in flight, and were contained within Kevlar armor shielding. The EZ-Rocket was registered as an experimental aircraft.

Development and history[edit]

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

On a typical flight, the EZ-Rocket took off on rockets, gained altitude for a minute or so, then switched off the rockets and glided to a dead stick landing.

The vehicle actually flew better during dead stick landings than a standard Long-EZ due to lack of drag from a stationary pusher propeller — the vehicle's aerodynamics were cleaner in spite of its belly tank. It was also lighter due to the lack of a piston engine (the rocket propulsion system was significantly lighter), so enjoyed significantly lower wing loading than a standard 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[edit]

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]
January 24, 2002 — First rocketplane inflight engine relight. Piloted by Mike Melvill.
June 24, 2002 — First touch-and-go of a rocket-powered aircraft (world record).^[3]
Jul 11, 2002 — EZ-Rocket flies twice in one day. First same day rocketplane flights since 1945.
July 25, 2002 — EZ-Rocket first Oshkosh flight at the 2002 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show. First rocketplane air show flight in the United States.
July 27, 2002 — EZ-Rocket second Oshkosh flight at the 2002 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show. Second rocketplane air show flight in the United States.
August 26, 2005 — EZ-Rocket requalification flight after three-year retirement. Piloted by Dick Rutan.
August 29, 2005 — Searfoss qualification flight.
September 1, 2005 — Altitude validation flight to 11,546 feet. Aircraft demonstrated sufficient range to fly from Mojave to California City and back without a relight, a prerequisite for the world record flight.
October 9, 2005 — EZ-Rocket second and third Las Cruces flights, at Countdown to X PRIZE Cup. Third and fourth rocketplane air show flights in the United States.
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, piloted 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]

Derivatives[edit]

The Rocket Racing League aircraft currently^[when?] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Specifications[edit]

Dick Rutan standing next to the engines of the EZ-Rocket, after the official rollout flight, November 12, 2001

Two XR-4A3 400 lbf (1.8 kN) thrust rocket engines (non throttleable, restartable in flight)^[7]
20 sec 500 m takeoff roll
Vne = 200 kn (370 km/h)
climb rate = 52 m/s (10,000 ft/min)
maximum altitude = 11,546 ft (3,519 m) MSL
Fuel: isopropyl alcohol and liquid oxygen
Chamber pressure: ~ 350 psi (2.4 MPa)
Specific impulse: 250 seconds (2.5 km/s) to 270 seconds (2.6 km/s)^{[citation needed]}
Noise: 128 dB at 10 meters^[8]

References[edit]

^ Flight Tests Of XCOR’s EZ-Rocket and Progress Toward a Microgravity and Microspacecraft Launcher
^ "Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) News". HobbySpace. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "First Flights — XCOR Aerospace". Mojave Virtual Museum. Archived from the original on 2006-11-10. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
^ ^a ^b ^c Deaver, Bill (2005-12-22). "XCOR EZ-Rocket makes more history at CalCity". Mojave Desert News.
^ FAI Records Archived March 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ List of Blériot medals awarded to Dick Rutan^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "LOX-Alcohol Rocket Engine". www.xcor.com. XCOR Aerospace, Inc. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
^ "XCOR Aerospace: EZ-Rocket FAQ". Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 29, 2009.

External links[edit]

The EZ-Rocket (XCOR)
howstuffworks: How the EZ-Rocket Works
Rocket Racing League Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
XCOR First Flights from Mojave Virtual Museum

[1] Flight Tests Of XCOR’s EZ-Rocket and Progress Toward a Microgravity and Microspacecraft Launcher

[2] "Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) News". HobbySpace. Retrieved 2022-05-02.

[xcor1-3] "First Flights — XCOR Aerospace". Mojave Virtual Museum. Archived from the original on 2006-11-10. Retrieved 2006-11-13.

[mdn1-4] 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^{[permanent dead link]}

[xcor-loxalc-7] "LOX-Alcohol Rocket Engine". www.xcor.com. XCOR Aerospace, Inc. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-06-15.

[8] "XCOR Aerospace: EZ-Rocket FAQ". Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 29, 2009.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|American experimental rocket aircraft}}
 [[Image:Xcor-ezrocket-N132EZ-020627-02.jpg|thumb|right|EZ-Rocket one week after its first flight]]
 [[Image:Xcor-ezrocket-N132EZ-040928-03-16.jpg|thumb|right|Cockpit. Engine on-off switches on left side panel are placarded "FWD - LOUD; BACK - QUIET"]]
-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 [[Regenerative cooling (rocket)|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]].
+The '''XCOR EZ-Rocket''' was a test platform for the [[XCOR]] XR-4A3 rocket propulsion system. The airplane was a modified [[Rutan Long-EZ]], with the propeller replaced by first one, then later a pair of pressure-fed [[Regenerative cooling (rocket)|regeneratively cooled]] liquid-fueled rocket engines and an underslung fuel tank. The engines were restartable in flight, and were contained within [[Kevlar]] armor shielding. The EZ-Rocket was registered as an [[experimental aircraft]].
 ==Development and history==
-The first flight took place on July 21, 2001, flown by [[test pilot]] [[Dick Rutan]].
+The first flight took place on July 21, 2001, flown by [[test pilot]] [[Dick Rutan]].<ref>[http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1746&context=smallsat Flight Tests Of XCOR’s EZ-Rocket and Progress Toward a Microgravity and Microspacecraft Launcher]</ref>
-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]].
+On a typical flight, the EZ-Rocket took off on rockets, gained altitude for a minute or so, then switched off the rockets and glided to a [[deadstick landing|dead stick landing]].
-The vehicle actually flies better during deadstick glide landings than a Long-EZ due to lack of drag from a stationary [[Pusher configuration|pusher]] propeller &mdash; 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.
+The vehicle actually flew better during dead stick landings than a standard Long-EZ due to lack of drag from a stationary [[Pusher configuration|pusher]] propeller &mdash; the vehicle's aerodynamics were cleaner in spite of its belly tank. It was also lighter due to the lack of a piston engine (the rocket propulsion system was significantly lighter), so enjoyed significantly lower [[wing loading]] than a standard Long-EZ.
+When XCOR began flying its EZ-Rocket in 2001, the company decided to have it FAA certified as an [[Special Airworthiness Certificate|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hobbyspace.com/AAdmin/archive/RLV/2003/RLVNews2003-02.html#Feb.11.03 |title=Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) News |publisher=HobbySpace |date= |accessdate=2022-05-02}}</ref>
-XCOR registered the EZ-Rocket as an experimental airplane, rather than as a launch vehicle, to demonstrate that a rocket powered airplane could successfully be regulated by the aviation sude{{huh?}} of the FAA.{{or}}{{cn}}
 ==Milestones and records==
-[[Image:Xcor-ezrocket-N132EZ-051203-63-16.jpg|thumb|right|EZ-Rocket, flown by [[Dick Rutan]], touches down at [[California City, California]] on December&nbsp;3, 2005, setting a point-to-point distance record for rocket-powered, ground-launched aircraft.]]
+[[File:Xcor-ezrocket-N132EZ-051203-63-16.jpg|thumb|right|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]] [[Liquid oxygen|LOX]]-powered rocket engine.<ref name="xcor1">{{cite web |url=http://www.mojave.ca.us/museum/photos-cftc-1stflights-xcor.htm |title=First Flights — XCOR Aerospace |access-date=2006-11-13 |work=Mojave Virtual Museum |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110075147/http://www.mojave.ca.us/museum/photos-cftc-1stflights-xcor.htm |archive-date=2006-11-10 }}</ref>
+*July 21, 2001 — First flight, flown by [[Dick Rutan]] (single-engine configuration).<ref name="xcor1"/>
-*October 8, 2000 - First firing of an [[XCOR Aerospace]] [[Liquid oxygen|LOX]]-powered rocket engine.<ref name="xcor1">{{cite web |url=http://www.mojave.ca.us/museum/photos-cftc-1stflights-xcor.htm |title=First Flights - XCOR Aerospace |accessdate=2006-11-13 |work=Mojave Virtual Museum }}</ref>
-*July 21, 2001 - First flight, flown by [[Dick Rutan]] (single-engine configuration).<ref name="xcor1"/>
+*October 3, 2001 — First flight in twin-engine configuration.<ref name="xcor1"/>
-*October 3, 2001 - First flight in twin-engine configuration.<ref name="xcor1"/>
+*January 24, 2002 — First rocketplane inflight engine relight. Piloted by Mike Melvill.
-*June 24, 2002 - First touch-and-go of a rocket-powered aircraft (world record).<ref name="xcor1"/>
+*June 24, 2002 — First touch-and-go of a rocket-powered aircraft (world record).<ref name="xcor1"/>
+*Jul 11, 2002 — EZ-Rocket flies twice in one day. First same day rocketplane flights since 1945.
-*December 3, 2005 - Set the point-to-point distance record for a ground-launched, rocket-powered aircraft, flying 16&nbsp;km from [[Mojave, California|Mojave]] to [[California City, California|California City]] in just under ten minutes, flown by Dick Rutan.<ref name="mdn1">{{cite news |first=Bill |last=Deaver |authorlink= |author= |coauthors= |title=XCOR EZ-Rocket makes more history at CalCity |url= |work=Mojave Desert News |publisher= |date=2005-12-22 |accessdate=}}</ref><ref>[http://records.fai.org/general_aviation/aircraft.asp?id=3674 FAI Records] {{wayback|url=http://records.fai.org/general_aviation/aircraft.asp?id=3674 |date=20070310201212 }}</ref> Also first official delivery of U.S. Mail by a rocket-powered aircraft.<ref name="mdn1"/> In recognition of this achievement, the FAI awarded Rutan the 2005 Louis Blériot Medal.<ref>[http://www.fai.org/awards/recipient.asp?id=26356 List of Blériot medals awarded to Dick Rutan]{{dead link|date=July 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
+*July 25, 2002 — EZ-Rocket first Oshkosh flight at the 2002 [[EAA AirVenture Oshkosh]] [[air show]]. First rocketplane air show flight in the United States.
-*December 15, 2005 - First cross-country return flight of a rocket-powered aircraft in the United States, return flight from California City, piloted by [[Richard A. Searfoss|Rick Searfoss]].<ref name="mdn1"/>
-*2008:  The XCOR EZ-Rocket X-Racer prototype rocketplane flew at the 2008 [[EAA AirVenture Oshkosh]] [[air show]].<ref name=ut20090806>[http://www.universetoday.com/2009/08/06/xcor-xracer-videos/ XCOR X-Racer], by Nancy Atkinson, ''[[Universe Today]]'', 2009-08-06, accessed 2010-04-26.</ref>
+*July 27, 2002 — EZ-Rocket second Oshkosh flight at the 2002 [[EAA AirVenture Oshkosh]] [[air show]]. Second rocketplane air show flight in the United States.
+*August 26, 2005 — EZ-Rocket requalification flight after three-year retirement. Piloted by Dick Rutan.
+*August 29, 2005 — Searfoss qualification flight.
+*September 1, 2005 — Altitude validation flight to 11,546 feet. Aircraft demonstrated sufficient range to fly from Mojave to California City and back without a relight, a prerequisite for the world record flight.
+*October 9, 2005 — EZ-Rocket second and third Las Cruces flights, at Countdown to X PRIZE Cup. Third and fourth rocketplane air show flights in the United States.
+*December 3, 2005 — Set the point-to-point distance record for a ground-launched, rocket-powered aircraft, flying 16&nbsp;km from [[Mojave, California|Mojave]] to [[California City, California|California City]] in just under ten minutes, piloted by Dick Rutan.<ref name="mdn1">{{cite news |first=Bill |last=Deaver |title=XCOR EZ-Rocket makes more history at CalCity |work=Mojave Desert News |date=2005-12-22 }}</ref><ref>[http://records.fai.org/general_aviation/aircraft.asp?id=3674 FAI Records] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310201212/http://records.fai.org/general_aviation/aircraft.asp?id=3674 |date=March 10, 2007 }}</ref> Also first official delivery of U.S. Mail by a rocket-powered aircraft.<ref name="mdn1" /> In recognition of this achievement, the FAI awarded Rutan the 2005 Louis Blériot Medal.<ref>[http://www.fai.org/awards/recipient.asp?id=26356 List of Blériot medals awarded to Dick Rutan]{{dead link|date=July 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
+*December 15, 2005 — First cross-country return flight of a rocket-powered aircraft in the United States, return flight from California City, piloted by [[Richard A. Searfoss|Rick Searfoss]].<ref name="mdn1"/>
 ==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-Racer]]s to use a single rocket engine on a [[Velocity SE]] basic airframe, and the first X-Racer to utilize [[RP-1|kerosene]] instead of [[isopropyl alcohol]] fuel.  XCOR used both design and operational experience from the EZ-Rocket in the Mark-I rocket aircraft design.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
+The [[Rocket Racing League]] aircraft currently{{When|date=May 2024}} 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-Racer]]s to use a single rocket engine on a [[Velocity SE]] basic airframe, and the first X-Racer to utilize [[RP-1|kerosene]] instead of [[isopropyl alcohol]] fuel.  XCOR used both design and operational experience from the EZ-Rocket in the Mark-I rocket aircraft design.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
 ==Specifications==
 [[Image:Xcor-ezrocket-N132EZ-051028-14-16.jpg|thumb|right|Twin rocket engines]]
-[[Image:DickRutan.jpeg|thumb|right|[[Dick Rutan]] standing next to the engines of the EZ-Rocket]]
+[[Image:DickRutan.jpeg|thumb|right|[[Dick Rutan]] standing next to the engines of the EZ-Rocket, after the official rollout flight, November 12, 2001]]
-* Two '''XR-4A3''' {{convert|400|lbf|kN}} thrust rocket engines (non throttleable, restartable in flight)<ref name=xcor-loxalc>{{cite web |url=http://xcor.com/engines/LOX-alcohol_4A3.html |title=LOX-Alcohol Rocket Engine |website=www.xcor.com |publisher=XCOR Aerospace, Inc. |accessdate=2015-06-15}}</ref>
+* Two '''XR-4A3''' {{convert|400|lbf|kN|abbr=on}} thrust rocket engines (non throttleable, restartable in flight)<ref name=xcor-loxalc>{{cite web |url=http://xcor.com/engines/LOX-alcohol_4A3.html |title=LOX-Alcohol Rocket Engine |website=www.xcor.com |publisher=XCOR Aerospace, Inc. |access-date=2015-06-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626025127/http://xcor.com/engines/LOX-alcohol_4A3.html |archive-date=2015-06-26 }}</ref>
 * 20 sec 500 m takeoff roll
+* [[Overspeed (aeronautics)|Vne]] = {{cvt|200|kn|km/h}}
-* Vne = 195 kt
 * [[climb rate]] = 52&nbsp;m/s (10,000&nbsp;ft/min)
-* maximum altitude = 10,000&nbsp;ft
+* maximum altitude = {{cvt|11,546|ft|m}} MSL
-* Fuel : isopropyl alcohol and liquid oxygen
+* Fuel: isopropyl alcohol and liquid oxygen
-* Chamber pressure : ~ 350 psi
+* Chamber pressure: ~ {{cvt|350|psi|MPa}}
-* [[specific impulse]] :  250 to 270 seconds{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}
+* [[Specific impulse]]:  {{convert|250|isp}} to {{convert|270|isp}}{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}
-* Noise: 128&nbsp;dB at 10 meters<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xcor.com/products/vehicles/ez-rocket_faq.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=January 29, 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20090220232100/http://www.xcor.com:80/products/vehicles/ez-rocket_faq.html |archivedate=February 20, 2009 }}</ref>
+* Noise: 128&nbsp;dB at 10 meters<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xcor.com/products/vehicles/ez-rocket_faq.html |title=XCOR Aerospace: EZ-Rocket FAQ |access-date=January 29, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220232100/http://www.xcor.com/products/vehicles/ez-rocket_faq.html |archive-date=February 20, 2009 }}</ref>
 ==See also==
@@ Line 49: / Line 56: @@
 ==External links==
 {{commons category|XCOR EZ-Rocket}}
-* [http://web.archive.org/web/20061117015637/http://www.xcor.com:80/products/vehicles/ez-rocket.html The EZ-Rocket] (XCOR)
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061117015637/http://www.xcor.com/products/vehicles/ez-rocket.html The EZ-Rocket] (XCOR)
 * [http://science.howstuffworks.com/ez-rocket.htm howstuffworks: How the EZ-Rocket Works]
-* [http://www.rocketracingleague.com/ Rocket Racing League]
+* [http://www.rocketracingleague.com/ Rocket Racing League] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182045/http://www.rocketracingleague.com/ |date=2016-03-03 }}
-* [http://www.mojave.ca.us/museum/photos-cftc-1stflights-xcor.htm XCOR First Flights from Mojave Virtual Museum]
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061110075147/http://www.mojave.ca.us/museum/photos-cftc-1stflights-xcor.htm XCOR First Flights from Mojave Virtual Museum]
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Xcor Ez-Rocket}}
@@ Line 59: / Line 66: @@
 [[Category:Aviation records]]
 [[Category:Private spaceflight]]
-[[Category:United States experimental aircraft 2000–2009]]
+[[Category:2000s United States experimental aircraft]]
 [[Category:Pressure-fed rockets]]
+[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 2001]]
+[[Category:XCOR Aerospace|EZ-Rocket]]