Dear Friends.

As Mike Roberts, knowing my interest in Waverider (aerospaceplane - re-entry vehicle concept, and flight hardware) has been kind enough to post information about the US (joint Air Force, DARPA, NASA and others) X51A Waverider (missile development) project here previously, I thought that it might be of interest to Mike and some others in UKRA to have the latest news of progress towards the first full-on scramjet test flight in 2010, as reported by Space Daily at -

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/X_51A_Waverider_Gets_First_Ride_Aboa...

For myself (and I know also for Rick Newlands) I'd rather see a Waverider vehicle intended for entirely peaceful purposes being carried aloft underwing, but that's the way it goes. Maybe one day, carried by a White Knight Two carrier aircraft (from Scotland even, if some of Virgin Galactic's plans come to pass - more attractive to the good people of Morayshire I imagine, and possibly more practical now, after this week's announcement of the rundown of operations at RAF Lossiemouth), if Rick and I can get funding to build a full scale version of one of the Waverider model designs that we have flown successfuly at low speed on model rocket test launches. I reckon, with a fair wind, that I've got maybe 20 to 25 good years left, and Rick should have more, so maybe we'll do it yet. The work goes on.

And of course swords can always be beaten into ploughshares, by which I mean that proving and developing scramjet propulsion and exploring Waverider hypersonic flight in the X51A programme will have civil/non-military applications.

In the meantime, I'll keep Waverider news (X51A, and other Waverider work) up to date here.

Yours ever,

John.