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Jet Dragster Sports Embry-Riddle’s Name
Daytona Beach, Fla. , June 8, 2006
Chris and Elaine Larsen and their son, Andrew, pose next to the jet dragster in front of Embry-Riddle's College of Aviation building.
Driven by Elaine Larsen, the jet dragster is powered by a Pratt & Whitney J-60 jet engine that produces a top speed of 270 mph.
What is Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s name doing on a dragster?
That’s a question that drag racing fans may be asking themselves this summer when they see a jet-powered vehicle bearing the logo of the nation’s leading aviation university at National Hot Rod Association events around the country.
The rocket car, which accelerates from zero to 60 mph in less than a second and reaches a top speed of 270 mph, raises eyebrows everywhere it goes, whether it’s racing against other jet dragsters or going it alone.
It also promises to raise awareness that “there’s more to Embry-Riddle than meets the sky,” says George Dewees, manager of student recruiting for the university’s aviation maintenance science program. “We want race fans to know that our degrees in engineering and maintenance extend not just to aircraft, but to high-performance vehicles of all kinds.”
Embry-Riddle’s sponsorship of the dragster, created and raced by Larsen Motorsports, highlights the university’s degree programs in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, which have a minor in High-Performance Vehicles, and its degree in Aviation Maintenance Science.
Driven by Elaine Larsen and maintained by Chris Larsen, the Embry-Riddle-sponsored dragster is powered by a Pratt & Whitney J-60 jet engine, burns 25 gallons of jet fuel per pass, and weighs 1,350 pounds with fuel and driver. Its chassis, built by Larsen Motorsports, is made of Chrome-Molly tubing. It has a 279-inch wheelbase. The body is aluminum and fiberglass.
The vehicle is a redesign of an earlier Larsen dragster, Miss-Ta-Fire, which Embry-Riddle sponsored for two years. During that time, aerospace engineering and aviation maintenance students and their professors analyzed Miss-Ta-Fire’s performance using computational fluid dynamics and suggested improvements that were incorporated in the new vehicle.
“That got the two groups working together,” Dewees says of the joint effort. “Students got to see firsthand the results of a project they designed. It’s something they did that ended up being real and tangible, not just on the computer.”
“Embry-Riddle’s enthusiastic and inventive students are going to get me up over 300 miles per hour,” says Elaine Larsen, who already holds a number of speed records driving Miss-Ta-Fire.
The Jet Dragster’s Schedule:
June 24, 2006
Atlanta Dragway
Commerce, Georgia
July 22, 2006
Music City Raceway
Nashville, Tennessee
July 27-30, 2006
AirVenture 2006 (on display only)
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
August 4, 2006
Texas Raceway
Kennedale, Texas
October 14-15, 2006
Moroso Motorsports Park
West Palm Beach, Florida
November 25-26, 2006
Moroso Motorsports Park
West Palm Beach, Florida
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 40 baccalaureate, master's and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and through the Worldwide Campus with more than 150 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For more information, visit http://www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.
