Bloodhound SSC

[Kneeslider]

If it all comes together, this should be properly exciting, I was wondering what Richard Noble had been up to lately. But 1000mph??? Holy crap! Is he sure that he wants to raise the bar that high? I had a look at the official project website, and apparently the project has been in the 'thinking about' stage since 2006, and lots of work planning work has already been done.

Apparently Lord Drayson the UK science minister has given the project his blessing in order to inspire the next generation of children towards doing science and mathematics A levels, which if it works will be great!

Also his involvement meant that the team has available to it a prototype Eurofighter engine, which is going to be supplementing a rocket!

Today is supposed to be the official project launch date, but you heard it here first!

http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/

[Azumanga Davo]

I'm personally more interested in the Aussie Invader effort, as that has some unbelievable engine power when that comes along.

[Kneeslider]

Well these days with F1s rules and regulations being so tightly tied down, landspeed record cars are probably one of the very few areas where engineering is truly king. The only rules are that the vehicle has to have 4 wheels... And that is it!

Thrust SSC was at the time a hugely impressive technical accomplishment (especially considering the fairly small ammount of money the project was done with) but that was over 10 years ago, and things have moved on. The team has the experience, and computer modeling and control systems have moved on exponentially.

While great to watch, the cockpit footage from Thrust SSC showed that it was a bit of an animal to drive. Anyone who thinks that it's just a question of aiming for the horizon and hitting the big pedal would be amazed at the ammount of driving that it took. Hopefully modern control systems and moveable aero hardware should make the next generation of landspeed record candidates safer and easier to manage.

Another interesting point was that Thrust SSC was designed to push to 850mph, but supersonic running was taking a massive toll on the structure of the car, it would be good to find out how this could be countered. It was calculated that going through the sound barrier created much more drag than was anticipated, as the supersonic shockwave on the front of the car was ploughing 100m wide furrows in the desert. I only hope that they have done their sums!

[fizzicist]

Eurofighter engine and a rocket?

Marvellous!

[Dave B]

While great to watch, the cockpit footage from Thrust SSC showed that it was a bit of an animal to drive. Anyone who thinks that it's just a question of aiming for the horizon and hitting the big pedal would be amazed at the ammount of driving that it took.

I seem to remember reading Noble describing how at one point he had the steering wheel at 90 degrees just to keep the thing in a straight line. Try that at 70mph on the motorway and they'll be pulling Armco out of your ears for weeks :eek:

[Kneeslider]

Here's a cool vid of Thrust SSC. I particularly love the awesome pic of the supersonic shockwave on the nose spreading out horizontally on the surface of the desert, and the shot from the plane as the car passes below. Having that ammount of power has just got to be lots of fun!

http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/165042/The-Fastest-Land-Vehicle.html