Bullet-proof Bloodhound car aims for 1,000mph record

Friday, 24 April 2015 00:55 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: The Bloodhound Supersonic Car is aiming to be the world’s first 1,000mph car when it attempts to set a new world record in 2016. The car’s British designers say they are pushing the limits of science, with the Bloodhound a catalyst for cutting-edge research in fields such as aerodynamics and sustainable high-tech engineering. Engineers in the west of England are currently constructing and assembling the three-and-a-half thousand bespoke components. Bloodhound SSC driver Wing Commander Andy Green will be at the controls, travelling faster than a bullet fired from a handgun. “We’re going to work it up to not just the new land speed record this year, but ultimately next year to 1,000 miles an hour...From a standing start, being twelve miles away two minutes after setting off - no car in history has ever done that before. This will be the first, and the fastest,” he said. A Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine from a Eurofighter-Typhoon will get Green part of the way. Then, at about 300 miles an hour he’ll ignite three Nammo hybrid rockets that will push Bloodhound through the sound barrier up to a thousand miles an hour. At this speed, any stones or debris kicked up by the aluminium wheels could become a deadly projectile. Panels made from millions of tightly woven glass threads provide a bullet-proof shield to protect the man behind the wheel. Green already holds the current the land speed record of 763 miles an hour, achieved in 1997. Bloodhound will push him far beyond the speed of sound, and beyond what the teams computers can currently predict. “Every single time I get in this car, I’m going to be slightly nervous... as we’ve pushed back the boundaries of physics in a car that is part Formula 1 car, part space rocket and part supersonic jet fighter. All of that world-class product, tens of thousands of people have input into this astonishing vehicle. Every single time I drive that, my driving has to be world-class to be worthy of that,” Green said. Later this year the team will attempt an 800 miles an hour record on the flat and firm mud surface of the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa’s Northern Cape. This will put Bloodhound through its paces ahead of the planned thousand mile an hour attempt in 2016.