Just got back from Mojave (about 150 mi away, roughly) and the first
suborbital flight of Spaceshipone. Somebody needs to do a 1/32 scale resin
of that baby- it's fairly small. Got to see my first Alpha Jet, too. They
are using an ex-Luftwaffe one as a camera ship for Discovery channel. The
carrier plane, White Knight, looks like a P-38 on hallucinogens. Totally
cool. Also along were an Extra 300 and a Beech Starship as chase planes.

The mated WK/SS1 took off and did circles around the area to get altitude
for about 50 minutes before drop. We were able to see them for quite a while
thanks to contrails. Just before drop the pair came at us from out of the
ease, just below the rising sun. We could see the smoke trail from the
rocket engine heading apparently straight up next to the sun and then at
burnout, the tiny spacecraft was lost to view. The local radio station was
broadcasting the radio from the tower, so we could hear when Mike Melville
was making position and altitude callouts. As the ship descended, we could
see the chase ships converging on his position. The formation circled the
field as they descended for landing. On the last turn round, the ship lined
up on the runway and touched down just north of our viewing area.

People were going nuts yelling and cheering when the rocket ignited and you
could see the trail shooting straight up out of the sun. When the sonic boom
filtered down to us there was a wave of cheering from the approximately
50,000 on hand. Now I know how it felt to watch Yeager or Shepard or Glenn.
On the way home, I also realized that that was the first time in my life I
had seen a formation of all four ways (yes, I know I'm forgetting electric,
but don't spoil the poetry of the moment) to power an aircraft- rocket, jet,
turboprop, and piston. Totally unforgettable.


--
Jim Atkins
Twentynine Palms, CA USA

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
-Groucho Marx