Rocket Racing Pilot PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
01-04-2006


Rocket Racing League grounds Captain Zoom.
"National Asset" pilot too valuable to risk

"Rocket Racing is dangerous, and the loss of Captain Zoom would
irrepairably damage the United States Aviation infrstructure. Jim
Campbell is too valuable to risk losing," said Peter H. Diamandis,
Rocket Racing League founder. "Just as we wouldn't allow President
Bush drive in a NASCAR race, we won't allow Campbell to fly in in the
Rocket Races."

"A pilot who has flown more than a thousand different aircraft is a
National Asset." continued Diamandis, "Jim Campbell, CEO of the
Aero-News Network, is a 17,000 hour commercial pilot and flight
instructor, a graduate of the National Test Pilot School and one of
the most active aviation writers and test pilots in the business. He
is author of 17 books and an active member of the X Prize and Zero-G
programs, Campbell has flown or evaluated over 1100 unique flying
machines since his first flight some 35 years ago (at age 13)"

According to expert observers this action is not unprecedented: World
War Two Ace Richard Bong was grounded because his puplicity as a hero
make losing him an unacceptable risk. Likewise Astronauts John Glenn
and Neil Armstrong were informally grounded after becoming national
heroes due to their Spaceflight firsts.

Campbell recently summarized his career in these words:

"I’ve had many amazing moments... blasting through the Mojave desert
at well over Mach One, or boogying along at 400-500kph--wingtip to
wingtip in a flight of nearly a dozen Snowbirds, freefalling-all
alone-from nearly ten miles up, testing incredible new aircraft
that had never flown before in any form, fighting the good fight
alongside my friend and hero Bob Hoover, dogfighting with Scott
Anderson F-16 to F-16 (I miss you, Scott…), practical joke after
practical joke after practical joke with Randy Gagne, doing
inverted spin after inverted spin with Bob Herendeen and laughing
our asses off with the fun of it all, flying an impossibly tight
formation with the irrepressible Jim Moser (so close I could touch
him if the canopy hadn’t been in the way) and trading really sick
jokes over the radio all the while with one of the most amazing
guys I EVER met, telling a wonderful girl that I loved her while
doing a barrel roll around the moon, freefalling through the
blackness of 2 a.m. on a full moon with seven other skydivers lit
only by man in the moon and the chem-lights taped to our jumpsuits,
landing an ultralight on the island that supports the Statue of
Liberty, looping side-by-side in TIGHT formation with Jack Britton,
flying another Dac from coast to coast and having more adventures
than any person has a right to, fighting for my fellow flyers
against those who would harm them, aerobatically representing
President Reagan and the Air and Space Bicentennial at airshow
after airshow, kissing yet another very pretty girl underneath a
red Staggerwing at Oshkosh under a nearly full moon, logging dozens
of hours of Zero-Gravity time among some of the finest people I've
ever worked with, chasing SpaceShips and recording history from an
unbelievable vantage point... so many memories, so many highs (and
a few bizarre lows), and I thank God I’m not quite all the way to
my fifties... meaning that there is plenty of time and opportunity
for even greater adventures... and I can hardly wait."

Following the grounding Campbell was overheard to say "Damn, that's a
relief. Those rockets scare the pants off me and I was going to have
to come up with some hairbrained excuse to not fly."

-30-

Aviation News wrote:

A better April Fool's Day gag than the one I had planned about Yawn's
BD-5J flying.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

("Aviation News" wrote)
Rocket Racing League grounds Captain Zoom.
"National Asset" pilot too valuable to risk

"Rocket Racing is dangerous, and the loss of Captain Zoom would
irrepairably damage the United States Aviation infrstructure. Jim
Campbell is too valuable to risk losing," said Peter H. Diamandis,
Rocket Racing League founder. "Just as we wouldn't allow President
Bush drive in a NASCAR race, we won't allow Campbell to fly in in the
Rocket Races."

[...snip...]

Following the grounding Campbell was overheard to say "Damn, that's a
relief. Those rockets scare the pants off me and I was going to have
to come up with some hairbrained excuse to not fly."


[Docket # 354981-C4573]
Superior District. Court

Campbell v. The Descendants of Robert H. Goddard

May 4th initial hearing date has been set.


Montblack

Damn, somebody owes me for a hernia operation. There should have been
some kind of warning that reading might be dangerous to your health.
OH, it hurts! That is funny.

BobR wrote:
Damn, somebody owes me for a hernia operation. There should have been
some kind of warning that reading might be dangerous to your health.
OH, it hurts! That is funny.

Give it a few months and some of those claims will show up in his
resume.

Harry K

What's funny as Hell is that most of them already have....

John

Harry K wrote:
BobR wrote:

Damn, somebody owes me for a hernia operation. There should have been
some kind of warning that reading might be dangerous to your health.
OH, it hurts! That is funny.


Give it a few months and some of those claims will show up in his
resume.

Harry K