Jessi Combs Killed In Land Speed Crash

I am not going to knock Jessi with this one, she had more stones than most men, but from many things I have read, the F-104 was a terrible plane in Vietnam. Maybe it just couldn't be made into a car.
I'm not knocking her either. It's a true shame that it happened.

I've read a lot about the LSR attempts back in the sixties. It was something that I followed as a kid, although I lost interest after Gabliech set the record in a rocket car and it went without a serious challenge for a long time.

The F-104 conversion was a real backyard deal, and while I love backyard engineering, I thought this might be over the heads of the builders. It just didn't look right to me.

BTW, a good book on LSR attempts in the sixties is https://smile.amazon.com/Speed-Duel...xt&sprefix=land+speed,digital-text,171&sr=1-2
 
R.I.P. Jessi Combs.

I've read a lot about the LSR attempts back in the sixties.

I wonder if this North American Eagle is the same crew that had already broken the sound barrier on El Mirage way back several decades ago and before the Thrust SSC did it.
Back in the 2000's I came across a whole section in the Antelope Valley Press online about a Land Speed Car that I think was referred to as the North American Eagle or American Eagle that had already broke the sound barrier but wasn't recognized for the record as they used a Military grade GPS system to measure the speed. I don't think it was the Budweiser car and I can't remember whether it was jet or rocket powered but they had some famous jet pilot or astronaut on the team if not piloting it.

Quite a write up slamming the Brit's bragging right's to be the first to break the sound barrier on land. I remember checking the bookmark around the beginning of this decade and it had gone "Page Not Found" and subsequent searches turned up nothing on the controversy.

Anyone remember this?
 
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Life is too short to go slow...
 
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