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NAME THE FLAME

The Rocket Racing League® holds a contest to name the first X-Racer

Nobody knows how far back the practice of giving names to airplanes goes, but no doubt the Wright Brothers had some pet name for their creation. Pilot Chuck Yeager named the world's first rocket-powered plane, the X-1, "Glamorous Glennis," for his wife.

In the spirit of this colorful tradition, the Rocket Racing League® has announced a web-based contest for the naming of its first X-Racer rocket plane. The winner will receive a prize package including an annual VIP access pass to the Mark-1 X-Racer Series events.

"Since our launch in October, we've received thousands of emails and millions of web site hits from fans around the world," said Granger Whitelaw, President and CEO of the Rocket Racing League®. "We're honored to have their support, and want to give them the honor of naming the first X-Racer rocket plane."

The naming contest occurs in two phases. Phase I is the open submission of names through the league's website at www.RocketRacingLeague.com. Names that are submitted will be posted for public viewing. In the event of duplicate name entries, priority will be give to first date of submission.

In Phase II, a committee appointed by the RRL™ will select 10 semi-finalists from among the total pool of name submissions. These 10 semifinalists will be posted on the Rocket Racing League® website at www.rocketracingleague.com and will be voted on by fans. The name receiving the most votes will be selected for the first X-Racer.

The winner will be announced at the X PRIZE Cup in October 2006 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, during the unveiling of the Mark-1 X-Racer. The winner will enjoy an annual VIP access pass to the Mark-1 X-Racer Series events, an astronaut-guided tour of the Mark-1 X-Racer, and a RRL bomber jacket.

The dozens of names already submitted draw from an extraordinarily wide range of inspiration. Predictably, quite a number have to do with the stars, sky and fire. Matthew Lawrence, who obviously was impressed with the photos of the 20-foot flame coming from the back of the X-Racer's kerosene/oxygen-powered rocket engine, suggested "Dragonfire." Mike Lara combined the X-Racer's native environment and the gyrations it will perform during the course of a competition to come up with "SkyDancer." And John Crutchfield reasoned that the symbol on the New Mexico state flag is the Zia (sun), and since the RRL will be headquartered in New Mexico, that "ZiaStar" would be a good name.

Winston William Collins wants to pay homage to Robert Goddard, one of the fathers of modern rocketry with the name "Goddard Express." Several people made the Chuck Yeager connection with their names, like Andy Goldfinger's "Glamorous Glennis II" and John Florio's suggestion of "Yeager X-1," while Paul F. McCarthy's "Yeager Meister" seems to anticipate potential sponsor marketing tie-ins for the future.

The Trekkies are beginning to weigh in with ideas, including John Worden's "Enterprise x01" while fans of the old WWII school of plane names, such as Brian Bartsch, suggest "Kerosene Kowboy." Can't you just see the artwork that goes along with it? A pilot holding the reins in one hand while waving a cowboy hat with the other and riding a flaming barrel of kerosene through the sky! A more modern, but equally evocative combination of images comes from George M. Elsom who blended adrenaline with dinosaur villain from Jurassic Park to get "Adrenaraptor."

And there are a few who seem to bring their inspiration from a more... poetic frame of mind, including Jared Bitting whose suggestion, "Big Daddy," got its inspiration from the Harry Connick Jr. lyrics "Let's kick the tires and light the fires, Big Daddy." Come to think of it, that might make a great theme song for the RRL!

And then there's Chris Rood, who accompanied the suggestion "Slingshot" with this: "A twelve-year-old in the backyard, fueled by nothing more than a keen eye and unlimited imagination, with the quickest and easiest path from zero to fast-as-hell at his fingertips..."

So, the moral of the story is to let your imagination run free and keep sending in those ideas. The Rocket Racing League® is history in the making, and you can be part of it.