XCOR EZ-Rocket

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

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.{{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}}

File:Xcor-ezrocket-N132EZ-051203-63-16.jpg, 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.{{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 }}
• July 21, 2001 — First flight, flown by Dick Rutan (single-engine configuration).
• October 3, 2001 — First flight in twin-engine configuration.
• 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).
• 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.{{cite news |first=Bill |last=Deaver |title=XCOR EZ-Rocket makes more history at CalCity |work=Mojave Desert News |date=2005-12-22 }}[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 }} Also first official delivery of U.S. Mail by a rocket-powered aircraft. In recognition of this achievement, the FAI awarded Rutan the 2005 Louis Blériot Medal.[http://www.fai.org/awards List of Blériot medals awarded to Dick Rutan]
• 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.

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-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|date=December 2010}}

Image:Xcor-ezrocket-N132EZ-051028-14-16.jpg

Image:DickRutan.jpeg standing next to the engines of the EZ-Rocket, after the official rollout flight, November 12, 2001]]

• Two XR-4A3 {{convert|400|lbf|kN|abbr=on}} thrust rocket engines (non throttleable, restartable in flight){{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 }}
• 20 sec 500 m takeoff roll
• Vne = {{cvt|200|kn|km/h}}
• climb rate = 52 m/s (10,000 ft/min)
• maximum altitude = {{cvt|11,546|ft|m}} MSL
• Fuel: isopropyl alcohol and liquid oxygen
• Chamber pressure: ~ {{cvt|350|psi|MPa}}
• Specific impulse: {{convert|250|isp}} to {{convert|270|isp}}{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}
• Noise: 128 dB at 10 meters{{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 }}

• Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|XCOR EZ-Rocket}}

• [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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182045/http://www.rocketracingleague.com/ |date=2016-03-03 }}
• [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}}

Category:Mojave Air and Space Port

Category:Rocket-powered aircraft

Category:Aviation records

Category:Private spaceflight

Category:2000s United States experimental aircraft

Category:Pressure-fed rockets

Category:Aircraft first flown in 2001

EZ-Rocket