Rocket Racing League and EAA News

Rocket Racing League(R) to Unveil Competition Aircraft and More at EAA AirVenture 2008

OSHKOSH, Wis., June 26 PRNewswire-FirstCall — EAA AVIATION CENTER — The Rocket Racing League is moving ahead with its plans to have a major presence at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, "The World's Greatest Aviation Celebration," with the unveiling of its competition aircraft, flight demonstrations and special presentations during the weeklong event.

The 56th edition of the EAA fly-in convention will be held July 28-August 3 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.

The Rocket Racing League team has been working overtime to meet its goals for demonstration flights planned for three days of EAA AirVenture 2008. Those flights, planned for July 29, August 1 and August 2, use aircraft based on Velocity Aircraft homebuilt canard designs. It marks the first public flights of these aircraft, which were first introduced in April.

"The Rocket Racing League demonstrations have the potential to be among the most exciting flights ever seen in the long history of AirVenture," said Adam Smith, EAA's vice president of membership, who participated in the initial Rocket Racing League announcement in New York two months ago. "This is an entirely new facet of flight, and where better to unveil it than in front of the world's most diverse gathering of aviation enthusiasts."

The flight activities at EAA AirVenture will begin on July 29 with a single-ship demonstration to open the afternoon air show. On August 1-2, the first full demonstrations of the Rocket Racing League concept are planned, using large outdoor screens to showcase how competitors will fly a "raceway in the sky" via in-panel and 3-D helmet displays during actual competition. All of the flights will also highlight the innovations in aircraft and engine technology that makes this new competition possible.

"We can't thank the folks at EAA enough for allowing us to debut the Rocket Racing concept at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh," said Granger Whitelaw, founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Rocket Racing League. "Not only are these first public demonstrations important milestones in the progression of the Rocket Racing League, but by sharing the experience and thrill of rocket racing with the public, as well as harnessing the technological and business development power of the aerospace industry, we will be changing the future of sports and entertainment."

Along with the public aircraft unveiling and demonstration flights, the Rocket Racing League is scheduled to make several other presentations throughout the week, including an evening program at EAA's Theater in the Woods on Monday, July 28. During these presentations, the Rocket Racing League will present the "inside story" on the creation and development of this entirely new concept in aerial competition.

More details will be announced at www.airventure.org as they are finalized. More information on the Rocket Racing League is available at www.rocketracingleague.com.

EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH is The World's Greatest Aviation Celebration and EAA's yearly membership convention. Additional EAA AirVenture information, including advance ticket purchase, is available through the World Wide Web at www.airventure.org. EAA members receive lowest prices on admission rates. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 1-800-JOIN-EAA (1-800-564-6322) or visit www.eaa.org.

For more information contact: Dick Knapinski, Media and Public Relations (920) 426-6523 dknapinski@eaa.org

SOURCE Rocket Racing League; EAA

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