Bloodhound supersonic car set for first public runs
Bloodhound supersonic carries out first public runs
(about 5 hours later)
The British car designed to go 1,000mph (1,610km/h) will make its first public runs in Cornwall later.
The Bloodhound Super Sonic Car has conducted its first public runs.
Bloodhound SSC is conducting initial "slow-speed" trials and should get up to about 200mph (320km/h) on the runway at Newquay Airport.
Using just the thrust of its jet engine, the vehicle raced to 200mph (320km/h) down the runway at Newquay Airport in southwest England.
Driven by RAF Wing Commander Andy Green, the car aims to break the world land speed record in 2019.
Ultimately, Bloodhound will be fitted with a rocket motor as well so that it can go 1,000mph (1,610km/h).
This will take place on a special track that has been prepared on a dried-out lakebed in Northern Cape, South Africa.
That will not happen for two to three years, but the Newquay tests have given the team confidence that the car can achieve its designed performance.
"This is about showing the world what we're about," said Wing Commander Green.
Driven by RAF Wing Commander Andy Green, Bloodhound SSC made a trip in both directions along Newquay's 1.7-mile (2.7km) runway.
"We've designed and built the most extraordinary, sophisticated, high-performance land speed record car in history. It will do 0-200mph in about eight seconds. For a five-tonne vehicle - that's eye-popping performance," he told BBC News.
More than 3,000 VIPs and supporters club members were in attendance to see the Eurofighter EJ200 jet engine take the vehicle from a standing start to 200mph in about nine seconds.
It is exactly 20 years since the RAF man drove the jet-powered Thrust SSC vehicle through the sound barrier in the American Nevada desert to register a speed of 763mph (1,227km/h).
As well as the ear-splitting noise, the crowd was treated to the bright glare of the engine on reheat.
His new machine benefits from two decades of technological improvement and will have the assistance not only of a state-of-the-art Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine but the thrust of a rocket motor.
Bloodhound seeks in the first instance to push the existing record above 800mph, but then ultimately to reach a speed that no-one is ever again likely to want to try to match.
These "slow-speed" trials are really at the limit of what can be done here in the UK.
The sleek, arrow-shaped car has taken some 9 years to develop and still awaits its Norwegian rocket motor.
To go faster, Bloodhound will have to go abroad.
Nonetheless, it is now at a stage where it can begin slow-speed trials, to test the performance of the Eurofighter power unit, and to run the rule over the vehicle's steering, brakes, suspension, and electronics systems.
Next year, it hopes to be on Hakskeen Pan in Northern Cape, South Africa.
The shortness of Newquay's runway (1.7 miles/2.7 km) severely limits the speed Bloodhound can attain before it needs to brake and safely stop. However, the thousands of ticketed spectators should still get a good sense of the car's potential. (Thursday is now a closed event; no further tickets are available. Some are still available for Saturday, however.)
This dried-out lake bed is super-flat and extends for 12 miles (19km), providing ample space to get up to some very high speeds and then slow and stop safely.
Along with the absence of the rocket motor, the other big difference from the race set-up of Bloodhound is the wheels. For Thursday's runs, these will be thin, rubber-shod discs; the tyres are actually refurbished Dunlops from 1960s-era English Electric Lightning jet fighters.
Rubber works fine at slow speed on a concrete Cornish runway but would be useless in a record attempt where they would instantly shred as the wheels turned at something over 170 revolutions per second.
Testing in Newquay these past few weeks makes the team believe the car can go 650mph (1,050km/h) with just the EJ200.
In South Africa, Bloodhound will use all-aluminium discs instead.
That is not enough to break the world land speed record (763mph/1,227km/h), but it would take the vehicle into a performance region where engineers would learn a lot more about its capabilities.
The project team - which includes Thrust SSC director Richard Noble and aerodynamicist Ron Ayres - had initially hoped to be on Northern Cape's Hakskeen Pan back in 2011.
At over 400mph, the wheels can no longer turn as fast as the car moves and act more like the rudders on a boat. And at 650mph, some of the airflows over Bloodhound's body would approach the sound barrier.
But technical challenges have stretched the schedule. Working with experts at Swansea University, it took five years, for example, just to find a shape for the car that could achieve the desired speeds and run stably along the ground and not flip up.
This is all knowledge needed to go 800mph in 2019, and then up to 1,000mph in 2020 - when the rocket technology becomes available.
And sponsorship difficulties have also been a source of delay. Bloodhound's development can proceed only at the pace permitted by the flow of cash coming into the largely private project.
But Mr Noble says Thursday's running should be proof that plans are firmly on track.
This is currently being developed by the Norwegian aerospace and defence company Nammo.
"In 2018, we've decided we're going to run the car really fast. There are all sorts of variations on this in terms of the engineering fit and the location but it might be 600mph or 700mph," he told BBC News.
The Scandinavian firm expects to have two versions available for Bloodhound. The first - a so-called monopropellant motor - should provide sufficient thrust to set a new land speed record.
"Hakskeen is the preferred place. The South Africans have been incredibly good to us."
The second - what is termed a hybrid motor - will be even more powerful and will be incorporated into Bloodhound following some aerodynamic upgrades to its rear end.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
