Roaring into life, supercar set to break sound barrier
Bloodhound targets 1,000mph after 200mph in 8 seconds on public run
FLAME spitting from its exhaust amid an almighty roar, the Bloodhound supercar showed off its awesome power yesterday as it hurtled down a runway.
Two stunning runs at Newquay airport in Cornwall were the first time the £30million car, an entirely British project, has been tested in public.
It delighted applauding spectators by reaching 200mph in under eight seconds during the test runs. The Bloodhound SSC (Super Sonic Car) is part Formula One car, part fighter jet and part space rocket – and is designed to hit more than 1,000mph, smashing through the sound barrier. The sound of the rocket itself can reach 186 decibels, louder than a Boeing 747 at take-off.
Yesterday’s test drives, along a 1.7- mile stretch of runway, intended to check the steering, acceleration, handling and brakes, were deemed a total success.
The vehicle has taken ten years to develop and build, and driver and RAF pilot Andy Green emerged from the cockpit with his hair matted in sweat to say: ‘It was absolutely fantastic, but it is unbelievably hot in there.’
Wing Commander Green was the driver when the Thrust Super Sonic Car set the current land speed record of 763mph in the Arizona desert on October 15, 1997.
He and his team are hoping to shatter that record in two years time when Bloodhound will race along an 11-mile stretch of desert in South Africa.
They hope to achieve what mili- tary jets and Concorde have done by going faster than 1,000mph. If Bloodhound hits its target of 1,050mph it will reach 1.4 times the speed of sound, around 767mph, fast enough to travel from Land’s End to John o’Groats in 51 minutes.
Over the past week the Bloodhound team have been running the car up and down the runway, peaking at 190mph. Yesterday it hit 200mph for the first time. Wing Commander Green said: ‘It feels responsive, stable and tremendously fast.’ When he attempts to smash the land speed record he will be subjected to extreme acceleration forces and noise levels.
The EJ200 jet engine produces 20,000lb of thrust, equivalent to 360 family cars. It will push the car to 650mph when a rocket kicks in to boost the vehicle to more than 1,000mph. In its ultimate form the rocket will generate around 27,500lb of thrust, the combined output of 95 Formula One cars.
Chief engineer Mark Chapman said: ‘How fast we will ultimately be able to go will depend a lot on how quickly we can stop. It takes between 4.5 and 5 miles to slow down from 1,000mph.’ Of yesterday’s successful test, he said: ‘This has been a huge boost.’