Breedlove had non-pneumatic black tires fabricated by Goodyear, remember?  They were thin

and hard.  I think they contained some carbon fiber and were permanently bonded to the wheels at the

Goodyear plant.  Some of them did suffer some damage due to running over little rocks, etc.  Breedlove

has spaced out the front wheels some to create more space between the 2 or 3 front wheels (to hopefully

avoid the dust-packing problem), and I think he may have changed the design of each wheel (rim) too,

but I may be wrong about that.  Breedlove's latest design has an adjustable aerofoil section between the

two rear spars.  This has been at least partially fabricated.  And, don't worry too much about Fossett. 

He is not just rich but very smart, and he has met a lot of challenges in this hobby of record-breaking

(see the Wikipedia entry).  If you read the press release on his Web site, he says "We have set out a

progressive series of test milestones, and we will gather and evaluate data as we build up speed gradually.

We are prepared to carry on beyond 2007 as well."  I interpret that as meaning that he understands that

he will not be doing this in two or three runs, and if it takes more than one summer, he will not let that

pressure him into rushing things.  I agree that Noble's ThrustSSC took things to a whole new level. 

     Breedlove's strengths do not include organization management.  And yes, of course, anyone there in 1997

respects all that you, Jack, Will, Don, and the rest contributed to the success of the "duel on the desert."  I

would imagine that at some point next year, Fossett's people will be arranging for necessary security.  He

will probably be listening to Breedlove for advice on this.  Certainly, a better car could probably be designed. 

But Craig is a good salesman, and he apparently convinced Fossett that the SOA has the potential to

do 800 mph.  I doubt that Fossett cares one bit about gaining any publicity based upon Breedlove's name

or history.  He just wanted a car, and he must have figured that this was cheaper and/or faster than

building his own from scratch.  All sources have indicated to me that Fossett's shop in Reno will be making

some extensive modifications. 

     The Seattle-area group American Eagle One continues to develop their F-104-based LSR car, which

is also aiming for breaking ThrustSSC's record.  They started in 1995 with a car which was more like

Thrust2, but abandoned that after 1997 and started over.  Ed Shadle, a Bonneville racer from Tacoma,

is the leader of the group.  They have some Boeing  employees, so they have a fair amount of engineering

and fabrication skill.  But they are very much short of money so the effort continues to plod along year

after year.  They have run up to around 200-300 mph on rubber airplane tires on two-mile courses (such

as El Mirage a few weeks ago), but that's all.  They are always saying they are going to go to Black Rock

"next year" but IMHO they never will unless they get a major sponsor.  Their Web site is www.landspeed.com. 

Ron Christensen, a salt flats guy who does most of the announcing for Speed Week and World of Speed,

told me that he thinks the AE1 group should have left the wings on the F-104, so when it left the ground,

they could still control it.  ;-)  Charley