Holy AWESOME - Bloodhound SSC inside

[pinktshirt]

I just stumbled upon this while reading the Guardian.

The next land speed record car will aim for 1000 MPH, will be powered by a Eurofighter jet engine, coupled with a rocket, fuel for which will be supplied using a pump driven by a Cosworth Formula 1 engine!!!

Video here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/vi...0mph-car-video

[MikkiJayne]

Yeah its quite a thing when it needs 800hp just to drive the fuel pump

If the rocket is anything like as impressive as the rocket scientist's mustache they should have no problems getting to 1000mph

[corrago]

Yeah its quite a thing when it needs 800hp just to drive the fuel pump

If the rocket is anything like as impressive as the rocket scientist's mustache they should have no problems getting to 1000mph

Fuel consumption astronomical.

[scott_0]

wow thats amazing! good posting here

[Internal Combustion]

Fuel consumption astronomical.

Yeah it's bad when your Fuel pump uses ~40 gallons per hour (F1 cars 3mpg @ 120 mph average = 1 gallon every 90 seconds)

[worth_fixing]

Yeah it's bad when your Fuel pump uses ~40 gallons per hour (F1 cars 3mpg @ 120 mph average = 1 gallon every 90 seconds)

f*ck...
It's probably pumping 5 gallons per second to fuel the jet motors.

[elementpb]

can't someone just strap a solid rocket booster to a roller skate? Sure, stopping the thing might prove a bit difficult, but it'll run out of fuel eventually!

[MikkiJayne]

f*ck...
It's probably pumping 5 gallons per second to fuel the jet motors.

One ton of rocket fuel in 17 seconds

[mike minnillo]

f*ck...
It's probably pumping 5 gallons per second to fuel the jet motors.

My math says 19 gallons/sec.

[Uberhare]

UPDATE....

Oct. 3, 2012 - The race to build the first car to break 1,000 mph took a big step forward today after a successful test firing of the rocket that will power the Bloodhound SSC. It was the largest rocket firing in the U.K. in over 20 years.

The British team behind the project ignited the propulsion system inside a hardened aircraft shelter at Newquay Cornwall Airport, which was originally designed to protect fighter planes from bomb attacks from the outside.

The unique engine is described as a "hybrid" as it runs on a mixture of a liquid high test peroxide oxidizer and solid synthetic rubber fuel and uses the V8 from a Formula 1 racing car as an ignition system. The design is said to be safer and more controllable than either either a liquid or solid-fueled rocket alone can be.

The data has yet to be fully analyzed, but the engine is expected to have developed over 30,000 hp during the short 10-second burn. It was designed to produce a total of 80,000 hp and 27,500 pounds of thrust in competition trim.

The needle-nose car that it will be installed in is currently under construction, and also features a jet engine from a Typhoon fighter plane which will be used to accelerate the vehicle to more than 230 mph before the rocket system is fired for the sprint to its target speed of 1,050 mph, which it is expected to reach in 42 seconds.

Three more tests of the propulsion system are planned before the record attempt, which is scheduled to take place next October on the Hakskeen Pan dry lake bed in South Africa, where a 12-mile track will be marked out for the run. If all goes to plan, the Bloodhound will hit its top speed within 6.5 miles, then use a combination of wind resistance, air brakes and two parachutes to slow it down over the course of 5.4 miles, leaving a buffer of just over 500 feet before the end of the track.

British Royal Air Force pilot and current land speed record holder Andy Green will be driving the Bloodhound for the record and 51 years old at the time. In 1997 he became the first person to break the sound barrier on land in the ThrustSSC, which reached 763 mph in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

After seeing the size of the bright orange flames coming out of the engine during the test, Green remarked cheekily, "I'm going to have to have a chat with the engineers, I didn't know my A** was going to be on fire."

The Bloodhound effort is one of several underway with the goal of setting a new land speed record. Former record holder Craig Breedlove is heading up a team that is hoping to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first title with an 800 mph run at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2013, while a shoestring project run by Waldo Stakes, a general contractor from California who is aiming to hit 2,000 mph with a vehicle he is working on called Sonic Wind, which is built around the engine from the X-15 experimental plane that hit 4,159 mph in 1967.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/...ntcmp=features

[.LSinLV.]

the rocket motor sounds like a scaled up version of a hybrid motor used in sport rocketry....I've built a few level III hybrid motors and they KATO often....not an exact science, but they are stable until ignited.

[Uberhare]

Rocket = controlled explosion

[.LSinLV.]

rocket = vectored explosion :d

ftfy :p

[compy222]

that has got to be the most terrifying pull EVER.

[AdrockMK2]

I'm very happy to see there are still people pushing the Land Speed Record even higher...and always there are crazy ones that think they can reach ABSURD speeds. Andy Green and crew probably have the best chance of breaking 1000mph, but there will always be this guy:

"a shoestring project run by Waldo Stakes, a general contractor from California who is aiming to hit 2,000 mph with a vehicle he is working on called Sonic Wind, which is built around the engine from the X-15 experimental plane that hit 4,159 mph in 1967."

...2000! Ya, sure Waldo.

[O_loung1]

that has got to be the most terrifying pull EVER.

reminds me of the rocket sled at stage 2 + 300mph

[FlashRedGLS1.8T]

Sure, stopping the thing might prove a bit difficult, but it'll run out of fuel eventually!

[GLgod]

UPDATE....


The data has yet to be fully analyzed, but the engine is expected to have developed over 30,000 hp during the short 10-second burn. It was designed to produce a total of 80,000 hp and 27,500 pounds of thrust in competition trim.

It's all HP and no torque!

[Uberhare]

It's all HP and a crap load of thrust!

[.LSinLV.]

I'm very happy to see there are still people pushing the Land Speed Record even higher...and always there are crazy ones that think they can reach ABSURD speeds. Andy Green and crew probably have the best chance of breaking 1000mph, but there will always be this guy:

"a shoestring project run by Waldo Stakes, a general contractor from California who is aiming to hit 2,000 mph with a vehicle he is working on called Sonic Wind, which is built around the engine from the X-15 experimental plane that hit 4,159 mph in 1967."

...2000! Ya, sure Waldo.

THAT motor is known to have issues....XLR 11 motor can be a bit "explosive", 5:40 mark

[Uberhare]

I'm very happy to see there are still people pushing the Land Speed Record even higher...and always there are crazy ones that think they can reach ABSURD speeds. Andy Green and crew probably have the best chance of breaking 1000mph, but there will always be this guy:

"a shoestring project run by Waldo Stakes, a general contractor from California who is aiming to hit 2,000 mph with a vehicle he is working on called Sonic Wind, which is built around the engine from the X-15 experimental plane that hit 4,159 mph in 1967."

...2000! Ya, sure Waldo.

Have you seen this guy and his project?

http://sonicwind.com/

No bad for a non-engineering type guy.

[AdrockMK2]

Have you seen this guy and his project?

http://sonicwind.com/

No bad for a non-engineering type guy.

He lost me at Papyrus

[Cousin Eddie]

Holy Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo!

[Shmi]

What does this thing use for tires?

[RacingManiac]

Have you seen this guy and his project?

http://sonicwind.com/

No bad for a non-engineering type guy.

Shooting from the hip only gets you so far though....

As far as tires....Thrust SSC had solid aluminum wheels....I am assuming Bloodhound will do the same...

[Chapel]

If the rocket is anything like as impressive as the rocket scientist's mustache they should have no problems getting to 1000mph

I'm pretty sure that rocket science is only as good as the scientist's mustache... I think that's the Bernoulli Principle... don't quote me on that.

[Shmi]

Shooting from the hip only gets you so far though....

As far as tires....Thrust SSC had solid aluminum wheels....I am assuming Bloodhound will do the same...

Meaning just metal, no rubber at all? Interesting.

[Uberhare]

Meaning just metal, no rubber at all? Interesting.

Yup. You gotta realize the wheels are subjected to a huge amount of centrifugal force and friction. Think about the rotational speed of the wheels at 1000mph. No tire on Earth could handle that. A solid chuck of metal is the only thing that can withstand those forces and not melt due to heat generated from the frictional forces.

[Shmi]

Yup. You gotta realize the wheels are subjected to a huge amount of centrifugal force and friction. Think about the rotational speed of the wheels at 1000mph. No tire on Earth could handle that. A solid chuck of metal is the only thing that can withstand those forces and not melt due to heat generated from the frictional forces.

Yeah I mean I kind of figured it wouldn't be rubber, but thought maybe there was another material covering the metal they'd use instead(dunno, kevlar or something??) Interesting though, thanks

Isn't aluminum very malleable though? I suppose at the salt flats it wouldn't be an issue since there's not much risk of running over anything. I wonder how it behaves at those speeds/temperatures.

[Crimping Is Easy]

It's all HP and no torque!

Developed in conjunction with Honda.

[StormChaser]

It's all HP and no torque!

vtec yo

[compy222]

vtec yo

when the second stage kicks in...it will be almost as epic as normal vtec.

[71DubBugBug]

thats gotta sound nuts, a jet engine, a rocket, and a cosworth engine

one huge fireball if something goes wrong

[nickthaskater]

What does this thing use for tires?

Probably something like billet titanium wheels; no rubber involved.

[AZGolf]

"a shoestring project run by Waldo Stakes, a general contractor from California who is aiming to hit 2,000 mph with a vehicle he is working on called Sonic Wind, which is built around the engine from the X-15 experimental plane that hit 4,159 mph in 1967."

...2000! Ya, sure Waldo.

Yeah I'm not sure he understands how this works. Based on this table of the X-15's fastest flights it appears they were all set at 100,000 feet or so. The atmosphere is about 1% as dense at that altitude as it is at sea level. Granted, the salt flats are going to have something like 87% of sea level density due to the elevation there but that's still 87 times as much air mass to punch through the X-15 had to deal with on its record setting flights.

We're actually getting pretty close to the land speed records closing in on the maximum low-altitude flight record, set by a privately owned F-104 Starfighter at 988mph in October of 1977. If these 1000mph land records turn out then we'll have an odd situation where the fastest land vehicle is faster than the fastest aircraft ever flow at low altitude for an FAI record.