Bloodhound SSC
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:55 pm
Not sure if this is the best place for this but here goes:
http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In 1997 World Land Speed record holder Richard Noble and his team went to Black Rock dry lake in Nevada and set a land speed record of 763mph/1228kmh with Thrust SSC. That equated to Mach 1.02 average, making it the first time a LSR had been in excess of the speed of sound.
Now they're back with Bloodhound SSC, named after a missile. Kind of appropriate really, since the team's chief designer Ron Ayers is a retired missile engineer. This vehicle is designed for 1,050mph/1690kmh or Mach 1.4. If they achieve this, Bloodhound SSC will be the fastest vehicle of any kind at sea level, since even the venerable F-111 wasn't that fast at low altitude.
The driver is RAF pilot Andy Green who drove Thrust SSC back in '97.
Noble has done this really well. He has sold the project as a major effort to get kids to study engineering. This time they have managed to attract sponsorship (and my name will be on the tail, along with many others). One of the Universities has contributed the bulk of the engineering study, especially the aerodynamics. This is a major stumbling block. Noble's first vehicle was 7mph short of disaster and he was lucky to survive it. Thrust SSC was more refined but still pretty crude. By the end of its life it was falling to bits with panels having to be replaced at the rear, having been loosened by constant exposure to shock waves. They have come up with some neat solutions and I like the way they have set up the shock and splitter for the engine intake. It's a novel approach.
Power is a big issue too. Thrust SSC used two Rolls Royce Spey afterburning turbofans from an ex-RAF Phantom. They were good for 20,000lbs of thrust each and swallowed fuel at a prodigious rate. Total equivalent at 763mph is about 81,000hp.
The new vehicle will have a 20,000lb thrust EJ-200 from a Eurofighter and a hybrid rocket engine which develops 25,000lb thrust. Equivalent horsepower at target speed is about 133,000 in a vehicle which is about half the weight of Thrust SSC and with better aerodynamics.
To feed the rocket engine the team have managed to get hold of an 800hp Cosworth F1 engine to use as a fuel pump. This is not unusual; the Space Shuttle Main Engine uses a 70,000hp turbopump - basically a jet engine to pump fuel - to feed it. The rocket engine is a hybrid design, chosen because of it's throttle capability and its relative safety compared with other types.
The vehicle is well into its construction phase now and should start making its first runs in early 2012. Record attempt will be in South Africa later that year.
[youtube] [/youtube]
http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In 1997 World Land Speed record holder Richard Noble and his team went to Black Rock dry lake in Nevada and set a land speed record of 763mph/1228kmh with Thrust SSC. That equated to Mach 1.02 average, making it the first time a LSR had been in excess of the speed of sound.
Now they're back with Bloodhound SSC, named after a missile. Kind of appropriate really, since the team's chief designer Ron Ayers is a retired missile engineer. This vehicle is designed for 1,050mph/1690kmh or Mach 1.4. If they achieve this, Bloodhound SSC will be the fastest vehicle of any kind at sea level, since even the venerable F-111 wasn't that fast at low altitude.
The driver is RAF pilot Andy Green who drove Thrust SSC back in '97.
Noble has done this really well. He has sold the project as a major effort to get kids to study engineering. This time they have managed to attract sponsorship (and my name will be on the tail, along with many others). One of the Universities has contributed the bulk of the engineering study, especially the aerodynamics. This is a major stumbling block. Noble's first vehicle was 7mph short of disaster and he was lucky to survive it. Thrust SSC was more refined but still pretty crude. By the end of its life it was falling to bits with panels having to be replaced at the rear, having been loosened by constant exposure to shock waves. They have come up with some neat solutions and I like the way they have set up the shock and splitter for the engine intake. It's a novel approach.
Power is a big issue too. Thrust SSC used two Rolls Royce Spey afterburning turbofans from an ex-RAF Phantom. They were good for 20,000lbs of thrust each and swallowed fuel at a prodigious rate. Total equivalent at 763mph is about 81,000hp.
The new vehicle will have a 20,000lb thrust EJ-200 from a Eurofighter and a hybrid rocket engine which develops 25,000lb thrust. Equivalent horsepower at target speed is about 133,000 in a vehicle which is about half the weight of Thrust SSC and with better aerodynamics.
To feed the rocket engine the team have managed to get hold of an 800hp Cosworth F1 engine to use as a fuel pump. This is not unusual; the Space Shuttle Main Engine uses a 70,000hp turbopump - basically a jet engine to pump fuel - to feed it. The rocket engine is a hybrid design, chosen because of it's throttle capability and its relative safety compared with other types.
The vehicle is well into its construction phase now and should start making its first runs in early 2012. Record attempt will be in South Africa later that year.
[youtube] [/youtube]
...... actually interesting to read that the wing helps stability from 300 up to the planned top speed... below 300, I guess that's what the steering wheel is for 
