Starting some years ago one of my passions for speed led me to becoming an active member of the North American Eagle which is a challenger built to take back the Supersonic land speed record from the Brits and return it to the United States. Our goal is to break the existing record of 763 mph by reaching 800 mph! The main power plant for this awesome machine is a J-79 turbojet jet engine that was originally was used in the Phantom F-4’s. There is also the possibility of utilizing a small 6,000 lb. thrust liquid propellant motor for added boost. The car weighs about 13,500 lb., but instead of the approximately 180 hp V-8 engine under the hood, the North American Eagle has 39,000 hp! It would take about $10,000,000 dollars to build the car today, which includes developmental, engineering and non-recurring costs. Someone once asked, “Can you drive this car on the street?”… The answer is no. For some reason the state highway patrol have problems with cars that shoot 70 foot flames from the tailpipe! You think you gave fuel economy problems? In full afterburner this car consumes about 10 gallons of jet fuel every second! In one mile it burns 50 gallons. Do the math… that works out to .02 miles per gallon, or about 105 feet per gallon. All of a sudden $5.00 a gallon to fill my 22 gallon pickup doesn’t seems so bad.

Gary using what he considers to be the most expensive weeny roaster in the world.

This car also has the Canadian Flag proudly displayed on it. They realized about a year and a half into the project that many of the vendors, including team member Steve Green were from Canada. Also, S&S Turbine Services, Ltd., from Ft. St. Johns, B.C. is the provider of our power plant. Now the North American Eagle has been protected by having it trademarked. Unlike most fast cars a project like this one does not happen over night. Research, design and lots more not to mention funding are challanging obstacles to overcome at times and just try to find someone who will give permission to take this bad boy for a drive. “Honest Officer, I’ll keep it under 400 miles per hour. Speaking of 400 miles per hour… It gives me great pleasure to announce that on Thursday, June 26, North American Eagle conducted test runs at El Mirage Dry Lake bed in the high deserts of Southern California and we are pleased to announce the goal of achieving a speed of 400 mph was successful! During the week the team had some celebrities from both the aerospace and automotive worlds. Present for the week were Sally Crossfield-Farley, daughter of Scott Crossfield who flew 56-0763 multiple times, and her son, Adam Farley. Also stopping by was SR-71 Test pilot Bob Gilliland and Instrumentation Engineer, Hal Weber. Tony Landis, author of 12 aerospace books and photographer for NASA Dryden stopped by also. Tony was the person that first contacted us with the unique background of 56-0763 and some of the greatest test pilots of all time who flew it like Scott Crossfield, Joe Engle, Pete Knight, Bill Dana and Joe Walker to name a few. Also on hand from the automotive world were George Barris from Barris Kustom stopped by to see the Eagle. George is the custom car maker to the stars. His creations include the original Bat Mobile, Munster Coach, Kitt Car, The Green Hornet car and thousands of others. George brought along his daughter Joji and her fried Barry, and Barris Kustom Production Manager Tony Woods and his son Justin. There are far too many good friends to mention but a few that stand out are driver Ed Shadle and my good friends and team mates Jon Higley and Didi Boyington the niece of World War II hero Greg Pappy Boyington who commanded the famous Black Sheep Squadron. It’s equally as important to note everyone involved with this project is a star quite possibly all of whom share the same vision, dream and passion as any other gear head. Speed… such a terrible thing to waste.

Didi Boyington and Gary having some laughs. Gary said he overheard Didi saying, “The only Eagle around here is this bald one.”