XCOR's test pilot is retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Dick Rutan, a Vietnam veteran. Col. Rutan also flew around the world without refueling in the Voyager aircraft, and has flown around the world in his own Long-EZ.

"This is the result of over six months of working with XCOR Aerospace to develop a flight test program for the EZ-Rocket. The first runway test was a resounding success." said Lt. Col. Rutan.

"After I turned on the rocket engine, the engine came smoothly to full thrust, and the aircraft rapidly accelerated to flying speed. I rotated and the aircraft lifted off and flew for a few hundred feet under rocket power. I then shut down, landed, and rolled to a stop. All the systems operated normally."

The EZ-Rocket is a research and development test bed for XCOR. "The EZ-Rocket project has given us experience in designing and building a complete rocket propulsion system and packaging it in a vehicle." said XCOR Chief Engineer Dan DeLong. "The next step is to fine-tune the vehicle and engine for routine operations."

XCOR president Jeff Greason said, "The primary purpose of the EZ-Rocket is to measure and drive down the operating costs of reusable rocket vehicles. XCOR Aerospace is developing reusable rocket propulsion for commercial rocket applications where our customers require inexpensive and safe operations."

A press conference was held on Saturday July 28th at the 2001 AirVenture show in Oshkosh, WI where it was announced that the official roll-out of the EZ-Rocket will take place in Mojave, California this fall after the early phases of the flight test program have been completed.

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