June 22
The media coverage was "awesome" - watching the TV footage - impressive and a bit scary - anything could have gone wrong and the world was watching; best summed up by the professional journalist at Aero-News.net

"A long thin trail streamed upwards at an incredible speed, Mach 3.2 to be exact... quite literally faster than a speeding bullet. SpaceShipOne continued it's ascent long after it's rocket motor had shut off...all the way to 62.5 miles! Pilot Mike Melvill endured the 3+ G's until there was no gravity at all! Opening a bag of M&M's he cheerfully watched them float in front of him in total weightlessness for almost 3 minutes"

"Melvill stepped out and was greeted by project backer Paul G. Allen and aircraft designer Burt Rutan. Thumbs up, waves and the crew simply couldn't restrain smiles that had gone unseen in the days leading up to this. Even a few tears were shed by an emotional Burt Rutan as years of hard work were finally and triumphantly fulfilled"

Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin shook Melvill's hand and said "Welcome to the Club!"

"Melvill had just become the world's first civilian astronaut" ...and only yesterday 62yo private pilot Mike was virtually unknown

June 26
Steve Hart - builder of the warbird hangar on the western side of Archerfield - is considering appealing against the conviction of defrauding the Commonwealth which saw him jailed for 4 years with a non-parole period of 18 months

"Hart was the head of Brisbane-based listed accounting firm Harts Australasia. The company posted a 2001 June-year loss of $92.7 million instead of a forecast profit of $12.4 million. It collapsed on October 2 that year with net debts of $61 million after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission moved to have the company and its 35 subsidiaries wound up"

June 30
Sport aircraft homebuilder John Gross is well under way with construction and engine testing at his Queensland home of his own jet aircraft design which is based on the '50's Panther fighter


John's machine is a ¾ replica of the Grumman Panther F9F carrier based fighter as used by the US military in the Korean conflict




Previous News Desk report back in 2001 is HERE