This car aims for 800 mph
Converted jet to challenge world land speed record
By GARY ROBBINS
The Orange County Register
Can a 65-year-old man take a 50-year-old supersonic military jet and turn it into a race car that will streak 800 mph across a desert floor, breaking the current world land speed record by more than 30 mph?
Frankly, Ed Shadle of Spanaway, Wash., isn't sure. But with the gusto of a veteran pilot and race car driver, he says he will attempt to shatter the 763 mph record that was set in 1997 by England's Andy Green.
Shadle will challenge the record next fall in Nevada's Black Rock Desert provided that he continues to pick up sponsors. He needs another $1 million to $2 million to finish the conversion of an F-104 Starfighter jet that was once flown by Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier. To stir interest in the project, Shadle visited an aerospace expo in Anaheim last week and placed the now wing-less plane-turned-car on display.
The car, known as North American Racer, also will be on public display in Yorba Linda on Dec. 3.
Shadle seems confident, although he notes he suddenly has a big competitor. Famed aviator and racer Steve Fossett, who grew up in Garden Grove, has a vehicle and he also will challenge the record next year. We discussed the emerging race with Shadle, who began his racing career in soap box derbies during his childhood in rural Washington