Bloodhound LSR Thread As Requested...
Discussion
Full sympathy for the people at the Bloodhound project. I deal with cash flows and engineering programme schedules all to often but do so without the pressures of the changing seasons and availability of places to set Land Speed Records.
Best of luck, and i hope the project continues despite this set back.
Best of luck, and i hope the project continues despite this set back.
The trouble with corporate funding is that promises are made, followed by big publicity, but then the funds flow much more slowly and/or not fully.
I suspect Bloodhound also has an overdraft facility and they rely on funds flowing in to remain within their limit. When they get close to the limit, with no inflow of funds on the horizon, then work has to stop.
Doing 1000mph on land may seem a big challenge but raising approaching £70m to do it is probably harder!
I suspect Bloodhound also has an overdraft facility and they rely on funds flowing in to remain within their limit. When they get close to the limit, with no inflow of funds on the horizon, then work has to stop.
Doing 1000mph on land may seem a big challenge but raising approaching £70m to do it is probably harder!
IN51GHT said:
Funding with Bloodhound, as with almost every previous land speed record attempt is always an ongoing challenge.
Nobody is more frustrated by the difficulties this brings than the team trust me.
Good luck to all of you- I'm guessing with secondments to Williams and so forth you don't necessarily know where your next pay packet is coming from Nobody is more frustrated by the difficulties this brings than the team trust me.
.mcdjl said:
IN51GHT said:
Funding with Bloodhound, as with almost every previous land speed record attempt is always an ongoing challenge.
Nobody is more frustrated by the difficulties this brings than the team trust me.
Good luck to all of you- I'm guessing with secondments to Williams and so forth you don't necessarily know where your next pay packet is coming from Nobody is more frustrated by the difficulties this brings than the team trust me.
.Outside of Bloodhound I do have another contract currently, designing an electric airspeed record attempt sports aircraft, many others within the team do the same, after all, we have mortgages to pay.
We are having different style of event on 1st May.
A day aimed more at the whole family.
Prices are £20 per adult of £45 for a full family, included in the family ticket you get to make & race your own rocket car.
Full details are available here - http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/news/may-day-family-e...
A day aimed more at the whole family.
Prices are £20 per adult of £45 for a full family, included in the family ticket you get to make & race your own rocket car.
Full details are available here - http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/news/may-day-family-e...
I keep a casual eye on the websites of the other LSR teams and was disappointed to read earlier this year that Rosco McGlashan's Aussie Invader project had been put into receivership due to a taxation issue following the withdrawal of an R&D grant. Rosco and his team were really badly treated by the authorities but fought back with a crowdfunding appeal.
Many, many people came to their aid and as a result the project is back on track if somewhat delayed as of this month. You can follow the unfolding saga on their website www.aussieinvader.com as I did. Here's an item from it that immediately got my attention.
"Our great mates and friendly rivals the Bloodhound SSC Team were the first to contact us and offer their support and suggestions on how they see the best way for us to move forward. They prepared a letter of support for us, arranged by Richard Noble, Andy Green and Richard Knight.. These guys are the salt of the earth and my team and I wish them all the very best for the huge job they have ahead of them in the coming year"
I call that sportsmanship at its best. Well done the Bloodhound team.
Many, many people came to their aid and as a result the project is back on track if somewhat delayed as of this month. You can follow the unfolding saga on their website www.aussieinvader.com as I did. Here's an item from it that immediately got my attention.
"Our great mates and friendly rivals the Bloodhound SSC Team were the first to contact us and offer their support and suggestions on how they see the best way for us to move forward. They prepared a letter of support for us, arranged by Richard Noble, Andy Green and Richard Knight.. These guys are the salt of the earth and my team and I wish them all the very best for the huge job they have ahead of them in the coming year"
I call that sportsmanship at its best. Well done the Bloodhound team.
Oberon said:
I keep a casual eye on the websites of the other LSR teams and was disappointed to read earlier this year that Rosco McGlashan's Aussie Invader project had been put into receivership due to a taxation issue following the withdrawal of an R&D grant. Rosco and his team were really badly treated by the authorities but fought back with a crowdfunding appeal.
Many, many people came to their aid and as a result the project is back on track if somewhat delayed as of this month. You can follow the unfolding saga on their website www.aussieinvader.com as I did. Here's an item from it that immediately got my attention.
"Our great mates and friendly rivals the Bloodhound SSC Team were the first to contact us and offer their support and suggestions on how they see the best way for us to move forward. They prepared a letter of support for us, arranged by Richard Noble, Andy Green and Richard Knight.. These guys are the salt of the earth and my team and I wish them all the very best for the huge job they have ahead of them in the coming year"
I call that sportsmanship at its best. Well done the Bloodhound team.
Some of us were among those who gave their own cash to help himMany, many people came to their aid and as a result the project is back on track if somewhat delayed as of this month. You can follow the unfolding saga on their website www.aussieinvader.com as I did. Here's an item from it that immediately got my attention.
"Our great mates and friendly rivals the Bloodhound SSC Team were the first to contact us and offer their support and suggestions on how they see the best way for us to move forward. They prepared a letter of support for us, arranged by Richard Noble, Andy Green and Richard Knight.. These guys are the salt of the earth and my team and I wish them all the very best for the huge job they have ahead of them in the coming year"
I call that sportsmanship at its best. Well done the Bloodhound team.
Well done chaps ! Oberon said:
Test message
Over a month and not a single comment. Is the site down?
What Pistonheads? Clearly not.Over a month and not a single comment. Is the site down?
Talking about Aussie Invader (as we were above) I must say I think that their rocket only approach has distinct advantages over the more complicated jet plus rocket used by Bloodhound. Their design is rather similar to Blue Flame and looks very clean. However, given the difficulties that the much better funded Bloodhound team have had in developing and/or sourcing a rocket (or rockets), I think it is a big ask for the Australian team to get one running any time soon.
I've always thought a rocket-only design was the obvious way to go and I suspect the reason the jet engine was chosen from the outset was that the government made a spare one available in order to kick-start the project. Their (government's) main aim being an attempt to address the shortfall in British engineering graduates by stimulating an interest in young people to study STEM subjects. Bloodhound does seem to have been quite successful in that respect.
Furthermore, if you look carefully at the way the project has developed it appears that British input is always given first priority and foreign entities, engineers, sponsors, etc are involved only when British support is not forthcoming (eg the rocket motor), and rightly so, though this patriotic aspect rarely gets a mention. Another conspiracy theory of mine is that it might be significant that Rolls-Royce is said to have declined to be involved in all the previous LSR attempts propelled by their products citing "negative publicity"should the attempt go pear-shaped . Not so this time, I'm delighted to hear RR is supplying technical support for their jet and suspect HM government may have applied a little influence in that direction too.
Just my 2p at an idle moment.
Furthermore, if you look carefully at the way the project has developed it appears that British input is always given first priority and foreign entities, engineers, sponsors, etc are involved only when British support is not forthcoming (eg the rocket motor), and rightly so, though this patriotic aspect rarely gets a mention. Another conspiracy theory of mine is that it might be significant that Rolls-Royce is said to have declined to be involved in all the previous LSR attempts propelled by their products citing "negative publicity"should the attempt go pear-shaped . Not so this time, I'm delighted to hear RR is supplying technical support for their jet and suspect HM government may have applied a little influence in that direction too.
Just my 2p at an idle moment.
Bloodhound supersonic car set for October trials
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-4006...
The Bloodhound supersonic car will run for the first time on 26 October.
It is going to conduct a series of "slow speed" trials on the runway at Newquay airport in Cornwall.
Engineers want to shake down the vehicle's systems before heading out to South Africa next year to try to break the land speed record.
This stands at 763mph (1,228km/h), and Bloodhound's aim is to raise the mark in two stages - by getting first to 800mph and then to 1,000mph.
The Newquay trials will not see anything like those speeds. The 9,000ft-long (2,744m) runway at the former RAF base is simply too short to allow Bloodhound to use the full thrust at its disposal.
Instead, driver Andy Green will take the car up to about 200mph using just its Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine. The rocket motor that would ordinarily provide additional power will not even be in the car as its development has yet to be completed.................Continues
Lovely news !!!!!!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-4006...
The Bloodhound supersonic car will run for the first time on 26 October.
It is going to conduct a series of "slow speed" trials on the runway at Newquay airport in Cornwall.
Engineers want to shake down the vehicle's systems before heading out to South Africa next year to try to break the land speed record.
This stands at 763mph (1,228km/h), and Bloodhound's aim is to raise the mark in two stages - by getting first to 800mph and then to 1,000mph.
The Newquay trials will not see anything like those speeds. The 9,000ft-long (2,744m) runway at the former RAF base is simply too short to allow Bloodhound to use the full thrust at its disposal.
Instead, driver Andy Green will take the car up to about 200mph using just its Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine. The rocket motor that would ordinarily provide additional power will not even be in the car as its development has yet to be completed.................Continues
Lovely news !!!!!!!
Oberon said:
I've always thought a rocket-only design was the obvious way to go and I suspect the reason the jet engine was chosen from the outset was that the government made a spare one available in order to kick-start the project. Their (government's) main aim being an attempt to address the shortfall in British engineering graduates by stimulating an interest in young people to study STEM subjects. Bloodhound does seem to have been quite successful in that respect.
Just my 2p at an idle moment.
My understanding is BAE provided the engine without the MoD’s knowledge and that it was only on asking for some assistance did anyone know that someone outside of the military had the jet engine. Just my 2p at an idle moment.
Happy to be corrected as it’s got to be pushing over 6+ years since the team visited RAF Coningsby to brief station personnel, I remember it was prior to the announcement of the location for the record run as we were asked to keep quiet about it.
robinessex said:
Bloodhound supersonic car set for October trials
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-4006...
The Bloodhound supersonic car will run for the first time on 26 October.
It is going to conduct a series of "slow speed" trials on the runway at Newquay airport in Cornwall.
Engineers want to shake down the vehicle's systems before heading out to South Africa next year to try to break the land speed record.
This stands at 763mph (1,228km/h), and Bloodhound's aim is to raise the mark in two stages - by getting first to 800mph and then to 1,000mph.
The Newquay trials will not see anything like those speeds. The 9,000ft-long (2,744m) runway at the former RAF base is simply too short to allow Bloodhound to use the full thrust at its disposal.
Instead, driver Andy Green will take the car up to about 200mph using just its Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine. The rocket motor that would ordinarily provide additional power will not even be in the car as its development has yet to be completed.................Continues
Lovely news !!!!!!!
I was going to post this, beat me to it, thanks.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-4006...
The Bloodhound supersonic car will run for the first time on 26 October.
It is going to conduct a series of "slow speed" trials on the runway at Newquay airport in Cornwall.
Engineers want to shake down the vehicle's systems before heading out to South Africa next year to try to break the land speed record.
This stands at 763mph (1,228km/h), and Bloodhound's aim is to raise the mark in two stages - by getting first to 800mph and then to 1,000mph.
The Newquay trials will not see anything like those speeds. The 9,000ft-long (2,744m) runway at the former RAF base is simply too short to allow Bloodhound to use the full thrust at its disposal.
Instead, driver Andy Green will take the car up to about 200mph using just its Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine. The rocket motor that would ordinarily provide additional power will not even be in the car as its development has yet to be completed.................Continues
Lovely news !!!!!!!
We are maximising VFM from the available cash at the moment, so people who actually have less work to do are working limited days to make the cash stretch, the systems guys are all full time. I'm two days a week at the moment, filling the other three with a short contract at WAE (again)!!
ecsrobin said:
Oberon said:
I've always thought a rocket-only design was the obvious way to go and I suspect the reason the jet engine was chosen from the outset was that the government made a spare one available in order to kick-start the project. Their (government's) main aim being an attempt to address the shortfall in British engineering graduates by stimulating an interest in young people to study STEM subjects. Bloodhound does seem to have been quite successful in that respect.
Just my 2p at an idle moment.
My understanding is BAE provided the engine without the MoD’s knowledge and that it was only on asking for some assistance did anyone know that someone outside of the military had the jet engine. Just my 2p at an idle moment.
Happy to be corrected as it’s got to be pushing over 6+ years since the team visited RAF Coningsby to brief station personnel, I remember it was prior to the announcement of the location for the record run as we were asked to keep quiet about it.
The next car will be rocket only if I have anything to do with the decision as the consensus is that around 1000mph is the limit of a car with a jet onboard.
IN51GHT said:
The MOD provided the engines.
The next car will be rocket only if I have anything to do with the decision as the consensus is that around 1000mph is the limit of a car with a jet onboard.
Interesting. Do you think the added weight and complexity of having both engines has impacted progress? Or, to put it another way, if the decision had been to go with rocket(s) alone, do you think the project would by now have been making runs in SA?The next car will be rocket only if I have anything to do with the decision as the consensus is that around 1000mph is the limit of a car with a jet onboard.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff