Here’s the executive summary: The Air Show rocked, the Space Show sucked.

Out of nine or so lunar contestants, only ONE (Armadillo Aerospace) took part in the X Prize challenge. The others either didn’t show up, or showed up with their props but didn’t get on the field. Very disappointing, especially for the large number of people who came a long way to see this event.

On Day 1 AM the Armadillo crew could not get the ignitor to work. On Day 1 PM they got it to work, perfectly! It rose in the air, moved the across to the other pad, and came down fine. They then needed to refuel within 45 minutes. This they did, just barely. It rose, moved across to the original pad, and then hovered above. Then, with 5 seconds left (they have to stay up for 90), something went wrong and the thing toppled over. At that point, the decided to hold off until Day 2. Of course, Day 2 AM and PM ended up being a complete waste, as they could not get the ignitor to work at all.

Thoughts about the Armadillo effort: First, I applaud them for getting out there in front of a huge crowd and trying. That’s a lot more than I can say for the other teams. Second, I think they got what they deserved.

Why? Because of the way they handled the “90 second” rule. The craft is supposed to be in the air for 90 seconds, with the intention being 30 up, 30 across, 30 down. Intead, they followed the letter of the law, but not the spirit: They went up quick, across quick, down quick–and then hovered inches over the ground for the remaining minute or so. Like I said, the letter of the law, but certainly not the spirit.

I know why they did it, they didn’t want their craft to fall and crash apart. Instead, they kicked up a bunch of dust while hovering low, and completely clogged up their engine system. Trying to be “slick” bites you in the ass, every time. Still, at least they had the balls to go out there and try.

Besides the last of any real competition, I didn’t like that the space-launch part of the show really hurt the air show portion. That because every time they tried a “lunar” launch, the field had to be locked down. So, we’re all sitting around picking our noses for an hour at a time while they are dinking around with their rocket. I understand that rocketry is tough work, with lots of trial-and-error, but 90% of the people there were looking for an air show–meaning loud jets overhead–and I don’t think it was fair to them. They should make the space part a different show, or schedule it differently, so that it doesn’t screw up what most of the people came there for (the airplanes).

On the bright side, the air show was really nice. Wing walkers, hang gliders, stunt planes, parachutes, gliders, WWII planes, and modern jets. Plus, there were a lot of plans on he ground that you can see, and walk in. We walked through a C-5 Galaxy, an AWACS aircraft, and got to go into the cockpit of a B-1 Lancer Bomber. Once we organize our 2000+ photos we’ll post them up.