Rolls-Royce has today announced that it’ll throw its support behind
Richard Noble
Bloodhound SSC
land speed record attempt.
Cosworth F1 engine will pump fuel. Blimey
It’s the first time that the aerospace engine manufacturer – distinct from the car company that shares its name since 1973 – will offer its backing to a land speed record attempt. That’s despite the fact that Rolls-Royce engines have long been a mainstay for British speed record seekers, with Noble himself using them in his previous triumphs, Thrust SSC and Thrust 2. Donald Campbell’s Bluebird cars and boats also received Rolls Royce power, as well as a host of other land-, sea- and air-speed record attempts.
The company’s backing will come in the form of support, both financial and technical, as well as of Bloodhound’s global education programme, which aims to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. It’ll also mean that the Rolls-Royce logo will now be displayed on the cowling of the Eurojet EJ200 engine that powers Bloodhound. In its original application, the Eurofighter Typhoon, the EJ200 would have developed around 20,000lb thrust, though in Bloodhound it’ll be combined with a custom-designed hybrid rocket and a Cosworth Formula One 2.4-litre V8... erm... fuel pump. It will, in short, be rather pokey. Enough to allow driver Andy Green to breach that magical 1,000mph mark? Or indeed, to keep at bay the efforts of Waldo Stakes? We’ll be waiting to find out with bated breath!