Mach one V2

        So, for a little while now a few friends and I have been discussing mach flight with R/C. The goal is to surpass mach 1 with a rocket powered R/C plane....a very daunting task indeed! With today's modern solid fuel-high power rocket engines the task seems do-able , but the trick will be keeping the plane together throughout the whole flight and successfully recording a mach speed.
   The plane Rocket will house an Aerotech J1999 Rocket motor, which is 54mm in diameter and just under 13" long, which means the plane can be fairly compact, and most of all made in one piece out of carbon fiber and epoxy resin. Also, did I forget to mention it will be two stages ;) The whole assembly will possibly need to be air launched at 500 feet or so, where the first stage rocket glider will accelerate to just over 350mph. After burn out of the first stage, the second stage is released and takes off like a rocket (lol) The top end speed of the RAM1 (official project name) should be close to mach 1.5 with the aforementioned rocket motor. As long as the plane holds together and all systems work correctly, we should have what may be the world's fastest (recorded) ground piloted civilian Rocket plane. The whole flight is expected to take place in a closed range, with permission from both the FAA and Land owners, in the middle of the desert. The flight area is 100 square miles, and the actual burn time of the two motors is just less than 3.5 seconds, if something goes wrong, or the craft blows up it should in theory hit the ground far before reaching any boundary whatsoever. Time will tell with more calculations. For now, I leave you with these pictures,
Ryan