The Rocket Racing League, which still reports an early 2008 race schedule, has added a third team to the mix and is considered a house team (being inside people and funding) to the Rocket Racing League.

The team is called Thunderhawk Racing, no doubt after the first RRL X-Racer plane, recently deemed the Thunderhawk after a public naming contest was complete. The team pilot will be Nick Mowery, a veteran pilot living in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Rocket Racing League is planning on having one more in-house team with a name and pilot to be announced over the next year. That will add to the only other two teams to join up so far. There has been no indication from news coverage of the Rocket Racing League as to how many teams will be needed to have a full race schedule but we forsee a short season if there are only four teams on board.

Hopefully the RRL can get a few more going over the next 6 months and have enough for an early race season next year.

A great artists rendering of several X-Racer planes flying through the air with their rockets firing and the mountains in the background. The RRL provided us with this picture.

The Rocket Racing League’s first named racer is the Thunderhawk. The concept plane that is turning into a real rocket racing plane may be taking to the sky’s as early as August to race in front of the world.

We have this picture below courtesy of the rocket racing league.

Have you ever wanted to be part of history? Do you have a couple million dollars laying around or know how to fly a fighter plane?

If you answered yest to any of those questions then this might be the opportunity you’re looking for. You can form your very own Rocket Racing League Team and be part of the inaugural season of the RRL.

To find out more about forming your own Rocket Racing team contact Tim Gormley, RRL Chief Operating Officer, at 505-532-1543 or email him at tim@rocketracingleague.com.

Here’s an early informational video about the Rocket Racing League. Kinda gives you that retro 1950’s look at a futuristic race track. Very Neat!

The Rocket Racing League officially announced the name of the first X-Racer plane that has been in prototype phase for a few years back in October of last Year

The Rocket Racing League held a contest in which the public, the fans of the Rocket Racing League would be able to vote on the name for the very first Rocket Racing League rocket plane. The name that a man from Maryland came up with was Thunderhawk.

There was over 2000 submissions for names and a panel of RRL judges took that name from a few thousand down to 10 names. They then allowed the public via AOL to vote on what they thought would be the best name for the X-Racer Plane.

The winner, Michael Higgins explained that he came up with the name because “The aircraft, with its rocket propulsion, combines thunderous sound with brilliant flame and light. So I worked up several names focused on thunder and light, and tried to connect those with a bird of prey.”

Cool Stuff.

Here’s a short video of the X-Racer prototype plane to be used in the Rocket Racing League events. Can’t wait til they’re racing around the sky.

Here’s a sweet image of a Rocket Racing League Plane, an x-racer. I found the image over at the Rocket Racing League website.

An X-Racer is the codename for the planes that the pilots of the Rocket Racing League (RRL) will be flying. They are currently in the prototype testing phase before the RRL gets underway.

The X-Racers are single-pilot planes that will carry a 1,500 pound thrust rocket engine burning liquid oxygen (LOX) and kerosene. Each x-racer will be about 1,000 lbs empty and be able to fly at speeds of more than 320 mph! Sweet!

One of the biggest problems that anyone could see is the duration at which these planes can fly as well as how long these planes need to take to be refueled. Initial testing has shown that they can fly for 4 minutes of “boosting” where the engine will be powered and then up to 10 minutes of gliding. The planes will then need to be refueled which will take 5 to 10 minutes.

It sounds like the x-racer planes will be able to keep the excitement going.

The Rocket Racing League or RRL was launched back on October 5, 2005. The founder, Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, who also brought the world the X-Prize, jumped full force into his next venture which promised to bring efficient, low-cost rocket racers, to the world of sports and entertainment!

For those of you who don’t remember, the original X-Prize was the $10 million contest to see who could build the first aircraft with the potential to commercialize space flight! A revolutionary contest that fostered the development and innovation of many great entrants to build a craft that could fly out of the earth’s atmosphere multiple times.

The winner of the original X-Prize was a company called Mojave Aerospace Ventures who won with the flight of SpaceShipOne, a small rocket that made 100 kilometer trip away from earth twice in two weeks!

Now that same spirit that fostered the Ansari X-Prize has been brought to the world of competitive racing. Sweet!

The Rocket Racing League hopes to travel around the nation hosting and running rocket racing events where multiple teams will compete for the Rocket Racing Cup amongst other prizes.

The RRL hopes to have many technological advances to allow viewers at the race tracks as well as viewers at home great views and interactivity with the race and pilots. A great vision from an already innovation leading man.