Stratofox thanks Sloof Foundation for aircraft donation

Stratofox's L100 at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada (select the image for a larger version)

Stratofox has been informed that we're the recipient of the Sloof Amateur Project Grant awarded for the 2nd calendar quarter of 2004. The award is by the Lirpa Sloof Foundation of Las Vegas, NV. The amazingly generous award is a Lockheed L100-30 cargo plane (a civilian C-130 Hercules.)

It's far beyond what we thought we could expect for our tracking and recovery missions. It will do very well for us.

Stratofox Coordinator Sean Lynch KG6CVV said about the grant, "It's too good to be true. I just can't tell you how much we appreciate the generosity of the Sloof Foundation for this. We've been needing aerial search capability. This does everything we need."

Stratofox is already planning to use the plane for upcoming tracking and search missions this season.

With funds provided in the grant, the aircraft will be based at the San Jose Jet Center at San Jose International Airport.

The Foundation has made a minor but very acceptable condition. Stratofox must perform some occasional educational or community service with the aircraft. Specifics of the agreement were not publicly disclosed. A foundation-managed account was created to cover insurance, maintenance and fuel.

Technical specifications

Wingspan

132' 7"

Length

112' 9"

Height

38' 2"

Maximum gross take-off weight (MGTOW)

155,000 lbs

Maximum landing weight

135,000 lbs

Maximum zero-fuel weight

127,000 lbs

Empty weight

76,000 lbs

Maximum payload (palletized)

47,395 lbs

Maximum payload (bulk)

50,600 lbs

Range with full payload

1400 miles

Maximum cruise speed

300 knots (340 mph)

Typical Stratofox configuration

3 4x4 vehicles will easily fit with radio antennas stowed

Typical takeoff distance at Black Rock Desert (MGTOW, approx 4000' elevation, soft field)

over 1 mile

Stratofox is a hobbyist group based in San Jose, California which performs tracking and recovery of high-altitude rockets and balloons. Most members of the team have Amateur ("Ham") Radio licenses and/or High Power Rocketry certifications. Stratofox is a Special Interest Group (SIG) of the South Bay Community Network (sbay.org). Stratofox's web site is at www.stratofox.org.

About the Sloof Foundation

The Sloof Foundation is a non-profit philanthropic organization which supports science and technology research projects. The foundation is based in Las Vegas, Nevada and was founded by Dr Lirpa Sloof. The Foundation's primary focus is on university research projects, and also offers a quarterly grant to amateur projects which provides them with tools of the professionals in their subject area. The foundation's web site is at www.sloof.us.