The Land and Water Speed Records Thread

[Life Saab Itch]

yoof full chav said:

Okay, LSI, you have a fair point, but i still think an safety cell is not going to do much good if you hit the water at in excess of 350mph(which is what you are talking about). Dont get me wrong, technology is advancing all the time, and it is more than likely that 400mph on water is obtainable, but i still maintain that whoever is driving the boat, is a sacraficial lamb. However, would love to see you prove me wrong, and would be the first to stand up and eat my words and acknowledge your greatness.

I very much doubt that a financial backer to any project would let me anywhere near the controls.

My point was how far technology has come since the sixties/seventies of "beer can" safety cells as opposed to today.

[Life Saab Itch]

dr_gn said:

Life Saab Itch said:

yoof full chav said:

Life Saab Itch said:

yoof full chav said:

Life Saab Itch said:

You say it like it's only one person...

Okay fair point, but as you can only have one driver at a time, if things go tits up, you wouldnt get anyone jumping to get into it once it's been rebuilt

Offshore power boats have two drivers. One for steering, the other for throttles. Technically you could have two for a WSR attempt.

Hmmmm, not sure on that one. I know that aussie, ken warby?? He just had himself, and i think donald campbell and others who have tried to set water speed records have usually done so solo. TBH i think others have tried since warby set his record, and died trying to better it, so if you are driving this thing, you better make sure that whoever screws it together does a first rate job.

getting the right people to nail the thing together is far easier than getting the parts made to the standard that you would want.

Must admit, I think that's the wrong way around. Getting the parts made to the right standard is easy (so long as you have the cash *and* the right people designing the thing in the first place, which is not so easy).

I guess that's down to whether you know/work in engineering circles or mechanical circles.

I know a few F1/aircraft mechanics/fabricators who I would class as capable, whereas I can only think of one engineer who I would say would have a chance at the structure and no-one with the relevant aero experience.

[Life Saab Itch]

chevronb37 said:

I hope this is of interest. Jean and Donald playing with the 1928 Bluebird - I suspect at Povey Cross.

"Donald's Garage"

Brilliant.

[Life Saab Itch]

DJC, if I get some thoughts together in a vaguely coherrent sentence structure, would you mind if I PM'd you?

[Life Saab Itch]

DJC said:

If you want.

Dont blame me if the answer you get back is complete bks though, I offer no gaurantees that I know what Im talking about.

A kindred spirit.

[Life Saab Itch]

Brave man!

[Life Saab Itch]

"Dinky's 2:1 series was not as successful as previous products"

[Life Saab Itch]

FunkyNige said:

I don't understand how you can claim a world record by cycling on rollers, wouldn't that be like going for the car world record on a rolling road?

Quite. Why not eliminate friction and just jack the back wheel up. I reckon I could beat the unofficial record that way.

[Life Saab Itch]

chevronb37 said:

I know it's ubiquitous, but how unutterably awesome is this photo?

I hope we can see a Bloodhound one like that soon.

[Life Saab Itch]

DJC said:

Not sure what to say snoggle. Its an obsession.

All this stuff has been my life since before I could walk and then its been the only professional life Ive known. Digital control systems, aeros and engines, aerodynamics, structural design, cfd, materials analysis. I know a few guys I trust to work with and I can (probably) wangle the neccessary hardware out of Rolls/AEC and BAES. There is the small matter of still needing 5million quid though :P

After that? Well, you suck it and see. You dont declare you want a crack at the WSR on Conniston if you are just doing some kind of engineering exercise or PR exercise. Or even if you just fancy being a record breaker. You do it because the 5yo inside you reckons Britain has unfinished business with Conniston and the WSR. You do it because those romantic silly childish notions of what life *should* be like still exist in you.





Oh yes and you do it so you can write "Smolenski is a fking " down the side of your boat (You're damn right I bear a grudge!)

I really must write that email. I doubt I would fit into the "trusted people" category, but I have a hell of an idea for sponsorship.

[Life Saab Itch]

chevronb37 said:

While trying to sort out something Bloodhound-related for my local car club, I ended up having a long telephone chat with Richard Noble. Quite enlightening and the struggle to engage mainstream industry in such an awesome project is quite sad. If there is a serious attempt for the WSR in the offing, my first sources for consultation over the realities would be Noble and Lord Drayson. We have so much brainpower in this country - and heavens knows enough money - that it could be a really successful project. All the very best with it. When you think of the scale of banker's bonuses, £5million to take such a fabulously challenging world record would seem a drop in the ocean - or water, if you will...

Lord Drayson was in the next garage along from mine when he raced FPA. Nice, down to earth bloke. Interesting car, bulletproof stretch Range Rover.

Sounds like a very interesting conversation to have had though.

[Life Saab Itch]

I have a solution to part of that.

It's not an aero solution, but it means that you can set the boat up to plane at high speeds, but it will not have problems gatting "up on the plane".

No "sandbagging" (and the subsequent lead weights) like Donald had to.

[Life Saab Itch]

DJC said:

Well write the email then you keep promising :P

Done.

[Life Saab Itch]

scubadude said:

Echoing what others have said- the water speed record has to be the most dangerous due to the ever-changing nature of a water surface, even a ripple on the flatest lake can disturb the best boat at speed, when that speed is 400+ the results are never good! I've seen very high performance craft upset by wakes at less than 100knots have huge and tragic accidents.

There are ways around that too if you think outside the box.

DJC really wants an email about this one.

[Life Saab Itch]

Nick M said:

I assume foils are not allowed ?

And hence any sort of underwater finned / winged device which creates sufficient lift to raise the hull clear of the water and hence away from the potentially dangerous surface variations ?

I'm thinking along the lines of the 'foil surfing' they do on the big waves around Hawaii - the boards have a wing device underneath which lifts them clear of the surface and allows them to surf massive waves in big winds without being thrown off the board by every ripple on the surface.

That's definitely "within the box" and there is a massive downside of friction involved in that.

[Life Saab Itch]

The blades that DMC's K7 was running on would have counted as less than 1% of athe area of the hull. When at full speed, only about 1/8th of an inch is actually in the water.

They are by far the best solution. For keeping in contact with the water. If that isn't an issue, you may as well try and buy an ex-Soviet Ekranoplan and hit 400mph on the Caspian sea.

[Life Saab Itch]

dr_gn said:

If someone could find a copy of the WSR rules...it might help. I'm sure all these concepts have been considered and dismissed for good reasons by many prospective challengers.

'Course that's just me being my usual optimistic self.

It would be a start.

I have looked, and I can't seem to find any.

Apart from asking the Quicksilver "team" for a copy, I guess you should ask the body that would be in charge of the verification.

I have no idea who that is though.

[Life Saab Itch]

Nick M said:

This lot:

http://www.uimpowerboating.com/vsite/vtrial/page/h...

No relevant regs that I can find on that site.

[Life Saab Itch]

FunkyNige said:

If you're going to be so far out of the water why not just use an F18 with a really long arrestor hook?
That's without seeing the rules, which probably having some OTT anal rule like having to float...

Last year an american got an airliner to float on a river...

[Life Saab Itch]

Fossilface said:

What are people's opinions about Bluebird running on Coniston again?
I personally feel a little uncomfortable about it, but I didn't really agree with it being raised in the first place.

I felt that he and it should have been left to rest where they were.
I'm sure that Gina liked the idea of her father having a grave but I did feel at the time that she was a victim of some nasty scare tactics.

I'm not 100% up to speed on all the background info to do with raising Bluebird and DMC.

When I first heard that they were "restoring" Bluebird to running condition, I was quite uncomfortable with the idea. But having seen the level of detail that they are going to and the way they are using every scrap of original material that they can, I am quite happy with the project.

I think it is being done for the "right reasons".

I will be at Coniston when she runs again.