September 20  2007
If you thought the report last week on the air-race fatalities at Reno was all a bit too much to stomach and the Red-Bull 'one-at-a-time' racing was a little too tame for your liking then rocket powered racing maybe more entertaining for you

As from next month and for just a little over $1M dollars (US) you can strap yourself into a XCOR EZ-Rocket powered Velocity and start racing

 
Similar to the air and car race concepts in the USA and promoted by Peter H. Diamandis of X-Prize fame the Rocket Racing League is set to blast-off early next month - "It's going to be one heck of a ride - the roar of rocket power and a 20-foot trailing flame will redefine the concept of air racing"

September 20  2007
Orient Thai Airlines budget airline One-Two-Go's MD-82 ran off the runway and crashed while landing at Phuket International Airport claiming the lives of 89 of the 130 passengers on board including one Aussie

 
Two members of the Zelazny Aerobatic Squad were killed when their aircraft collided during a performance at the Radom Air Show in Poland recently - for additional crash images click HERE

September 20  2007
Veterans gathered at CIA headquarters in Langley USA recently to reminisce about aircraft which shattered records for speed and altitude in the secrecy of a 1960's CIA program codenamed Oxcart

 
The A-12 cruised at altitudes between 80,000 and 90,000 feet and was high enough to view the earth's curvature

At speeds of around Mach 2.5 ..."it was so fast that it took only about 12 minutes to traverse North Vietnam"