To push the limits of engineering, daring Californian Ed Shadle plans to become the fastest man on the ground to date. Shadle's mission, along with partner and co-owner Keith Zanghi, is to shatter the world's land speed record with North American Eagle (NAE) -- a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter/land vehicle conversion presently undergoing the test runs for setting a new land speed record in excess of 800 MPH.

"Continuous testing is the key to our success -- the horsepower is there and we know it will go fast," says a confident Shadle. The conversion of a celebrated Mach 2 fighter jet to the equivalent of every hot rodder's dream is no easy feat and has presented a variety of challenges to Shadle, Zanghi, and their team of 36 highly-trained engineers and technicians. However, October 2005 tests conducted at Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base have convinced the NAE team that their goal of 800 MPH is achievable.

The current land speed record of 763 MPH was set October 15th 1997 by Andy Green of Great Britain and the Thrust SSC. Ed, his craft, and his American- Canadian team intend to change all that.

"Clearly, this project is more than breaking a land-speed record, it's about history and the opportunity to be a part of it," says Shadle proudly. Before the conversion, this F-104 had a significant history having served as a chase plane for the X-15 project and flown by a Who's Who of aviation -- test pilots Chuck Yeager, Scott Crossfield, Pete Knight, and former shuttle pilot Joe Engle. It is now destined to make history again.

Safely achieving a ground speed record of 800 MPH has made the NAE Project a test bed for significant research. The NAE has been fitted with over fifty accelerometers, microphones, and strain gauges to collect and evaluate critical data concerning the structural integrity, magnetic braking and propulsion systems at extreme speeds.

The NAE will be appearing February 25-26 at the Northwest Aviation Conference and Tradeshow in Puyallup, WA ( http://washington-aviation.org/ ). In May the team will begin its next round of test runs at Edward's AFB.