Man Hopes for Record in 39,000 Horsepower Car

SPANAWAY, WA-June 19, 2003 — Ed Shadle feels the need for speed – and lots of it.

SPANAWAY, Wash. (AP) -- A team of more than a dozen men have been spending their weekends on a 39,000- horsepower dream: to shatter the world land-speed record of 763 mph with a former jet plane on wheels.

"The British have held the record for 20 years," said Ed Shadle, a retired IBM computer technician. "It's about time that a couple of boys from Pierce County bring it back to America."

Shadle, 61, is the co-owner and driver of the vehicle; the other owner is Keith Zanghi, 48, a Boeing plant manager. They've already invested $100,000 toward their dream, working out of a friend's hangar in west-central Washington.

The North American Eagle ™ team plans to install a test engine this September and run low-speed tests at an old B-52 runway in Moses Lake two months later.

The current speed record of 763 mph was set by a vehicle driven by Andy Green, a British pilot, in 1997. It was the first time a vehicle on the ground had broken the speed of sound, which is around 750 mph.

Unmanned, rocket-propelled sleds on rails have reached far higher speeds, however. In April, Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico claimed a speed record for rail vehicles of about 6,400 mph.

Along with about a dozen teammates, Shadle and Zanghi are hoping to reach 800 mph in the slender, custom-painted former Lockheed F-104 Starfighter that they bought from a surplus aircraft dealer in Belfast, Maine for $25,000.

Their team, North American Eagle, plans to install a test engine this September and run low-speed tests at an old B-52 runway in Moses Lake two months later. The team hopes to make its bid for the land-speed record in the fall of 2004 at Black Rock Desert north of Reno, Nev., or at Cold Lake in Alberta, Canada.

"If we're lucky," Drumheller said, "we'll be part of history."

Members of North American Eagle get together every Saturday or Sunday morning with tools, doughnuts and an ice-chest full of beer to work on the project. Team members include an ejection specialist who worked on NASA space missions, a jet engine mechanic, a computer technician, a former B-52 mechanic, an auto body specialist, a machinist and an engineer. All are volunteers.

The group says it still needs $500,000 to finish the vehicle and another $500,000 to hold the record-breaking session, which would require a camp for a 30-member crew for a month.

Some sponsors have provided parts and services. A shop at Fort St. John in British Columbia is working on the engine. Another shop, in Abbotsford, B.C., machined the solid aluminum wheels. A shop in Port Angeles is building a magnetic braking system.

On its Web site, the team asks for potential sponsors to provide everything from on- board computers to portable toilets and toilet paper.

Few groups around the world are pursuing the land-speed record. Green recently retired his vehicle. The other American team in the running is a past record-holder, Spirit of America, based in Rio Vista, Calif.

He hopes to break the world land-speed record in a 39,000-horsepower jet car.

The record now stands at more than 763 miles per hour.

The retired IBM computer technician and his partners have invested $100,000 in their dream machine, the North American Eagle.

The three-wheeled vehicle is built around the guts of an old F-104 supersonic jet fighter.

They plan to start low speed test runs at an old air base in Washington state this September. Shadle says on paper their jet car can do 800mph.

Email that we recieved in October from the North American Eagle team:

Mr. Jeff Shipley:

During a routine check of one of the internet search engines I ran across your site and in particular the following page: http://www.seasabres.com/Non%20Sequitur/800mph%20ca.htm (this page)

I would like to thank you for running the AP story on the North American Eagle world land speed record challenger. All the press we can get is very helpful. It just so happens my partner and driver on the team Ed Shadle and myself have a long history of scuba diving and still to this day enjoy it very much. Ed was one of the founding members and past presidents of the Tacoma Scubaneers. Through his travels with IBM and the Air Force was able to dive around the world. I started diving when I was 13 and later had my first job at age 15 at the former New England Divers at their Seattle Branch. I was close friends with Harvey Grohs (Harvey's Wetsuits) and his son Larry. Those five years working at the dive shop I consider one of the best jobs I ever held. Well thank you again for publishing the story. Your website is great and I especially enjoyed the section on how you obtain your name. Our two organizations have built our dream based on a two the most exciting aircraft of the past, the F-86 and the F-104. If any of your members are ever in the Seattle area (great diving in the San Juan Islands) they are welcome to come by the race car shop.

Thanks again

Keith Zanghi

Director of Operations North American Eagle

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Posted June 22, 2003