Bloodhound SSC
Discussion
After a day of frankly depressing motorsport news be it F1, Sportscar or WRC related i have just spent a few minutes reminding myself of an article from this months Motorsport about this 1000mph record attempt. Once more it fair put a smile on my face tbh.
For some reason this record attempt has just grabbed my attention more so than the previous two successful attempts by Richard Noble and his team.
I don't know what appeals the most but its probably a combination of:
1. The astounding 1000mph target (4 seconds a mile anyone!!)
2. The eccentricity of it all.
3. The involvement and training of future engineers and pupils via college and school involvement is equally as important as acheiving 1000mph.
4. The car running on three "engines".
5. The whole attempt being done on a £10m budget (Probably a similar amount to Ferrari's catering budget)
6. Being reminded that it is effing possible to aim for and acheive the seemingly impossible.
7. No rules and regs other than two timed passes on an 11 mile course (5 mile run up, 1 mile timed, 5 miles for braking)with a 1 hour turnaround in between runs.
7. Its British and it's one of the few things left that we can say we are unbeaten at in recent times (hoist the flag up chaps and chapesses!!)
I'm no tech expert but the principle of this car sounds astounding (any experts please correct me if i've interpreted the report incorrectly here)
The main body of the car is a combination of steel and composite construction powered by three seperate engines which in total including fuel will weigh 6.5T.
The engines are:
1. A Eurojet engine from a Typhoon fighter.
2. A hybrid rocket engine.
3. An 800bhp V12 engine.
I'll try and explain the next bit in sequence as to how the three combine for a "typical" 11 mile run:
1. The eurojet engine gets the thing off the line and upto 350mph.
2. At 350mph the hybrid rocket kicks in, effectively doubling the thrust and getting the car from 350mph to 1000mph in approx 17 seconds (fairly brisk).
3. To achieve nr.s 1 and 2 above the 800bhp v12 engine provides power for the hydraulic systems, powering up the eurojet engine and providing the power to "pump" 1 tonne of Hydrogen Peroxide into the rocket to get the thing from approx 350mph upto the required 1000mph in approx 17 seconds flat.
And the downside? - apparently it's only got 5 degree of turning so the steering lock is a bit sh@t
Anyways more interesting (and undoubtedly more accurate) information at:
www.bloodhoundssc.com
For some reason this record attempt has just grabbed my attention more so than the previous two successful attempts by Richard Noble and his team.
I don't know what appeals the most but its probably a combination of:
1. The astounding 1000mph target (4 seconds a mile anyone!!)
2. The eccentricity of it all.
3. The involvement and training of future engineers and pupils via college and school involvement is equally as important as acheiving 1000mph.
4. The car running on three "engines".
5. The whole attempt being done on a £10m budget (Probably a similar amount to Ferrari's catering budget)
6. Being reminded that it is effing possible to aim for and acheive the seemingly impossible.
7. No rules and regs other than two timed passes on an 11 mile course (5 mile run up, 1 mile timed, 5 miles for braking)with a 1 hour turnaround in between runs.
7. Its British and it's one of the few things left that we can say we are unbeaten at in recent times (hoist the flag up chaps and chapesses!!)
I'm no tech expert but the principle of this car sounds astounding (any experts please correct me if i've interpreted the report incorrectly here)
The main body of the car is a combination of steel and composite construction powered by three seperate engines which in total including fuel will weigh 6.5T.
The engines are:
1. A Eurojet engine from a Typhoon fighter.
2. A hybrid rocket engine.
3. An 800bhp V12 engine.
I'll try and explain the next bit in sequence as to how the three combine for a "typical" 11 mile run:
1. The eurojet engine gets the thing off the line and upto 350mph.
2. At 350mph the hybrid rocket kicks in, effectively doubling the thrust and getting the car from 350mph to 1000mph in approx 17 seconds (fairly brisk).
3. To achieve nr.s 1 and 2 above the 800bhp v12 engine provides power for the hydraulic systems, powering up the eurojet engine and providing the power to "pump" 1 tonne of Hydrogen Peroxide into the rocket to get the thing from approx 350mph upto the required 1000mph in approx 17 seconds flat.
And the downside? - apparently it's only got 5 degree of turning so the steering lock is a bit sh@t
Anyways more interesting (and undoubtedly more accurate) information at:
www.bloodhoundssc.com
AlexS said:
And I'm off to the first Supporters Club Roadshow on Sunday 
Lucky you, i'm taking my 6 year old to a birthday party for one of his mates!!Would be interested to hear what your thoughts are following the roadshow if you don't mind?
As stated in my 1st post i'm not of a technical mind but the chance to support such an attempt as well as learn something for myself and relate it back in a practical sense to my son is not one to be missed.
Not sure how i'm going to relate to him that a car can be driven over four times faster than Lewis can manage or how the distance he walks to school in a morning can be acheived in four seconds flat but that will all be part of the education process no doubt
Cheers.
I remeber when he (Noble) ran out an old mini with rear steering etc.
he got a right ribbing, people basically saying he was a nutter...
but when he turned it into this:
you can't but admire the guy, what he can achive with sod all budget really does put into perspective what's possible.
he got a right ribbing, people basically saying he was a nutter...
but when he turned it into this:
you can't but admire the guy, what he can achive with sod all budget really does put into perspective what's possible.
Thanks for the reminder I'd forgotten to remember to jion up if you know what I mean. I remember the last attempt and kicking myself for not paying enough attention, anyway just joined the 1K club so as previous poster said will be interesting trying to explain to my 7yr old son how it will make F1 seem slow
cheers
Morgan
Scuffers said:
dilbert said:
Makes me wish we could do similar with space vehicles too.
(Although I accept that the budget is probably just beyond even the means of a keen and wealthy privateer - probably not much beyond though)
been done, Burt Rutan, SpaceShipOne..(Although I accept that the budget is probably just beyond even the means of a keen and wealthy privateer - probably not much beyond though)
(now with Virgin)
rubystone said:
chim666 said:
rubystone said:
AlexS said:
And I'm off to the first Supporters Club Roadshow on Sunday
UWE Bristol? Me too - see you there :-)Irrespective would be grateful of one or alls opinions on the roadshow if you dont' mind?
Thinking on from yesterdays postings i can't think of anything else in recent times that is more in line with the ethos of this site or deserves the support of the PH "community" as much as this attempt?
I don't know the total membership numbers of this site but i would hazard a guess that if there was a decent commitment to donations for this attempt from members on here it could cause quite a dent in contributing to the overall required budget?
Just imagine bloodhound SSC disappearing at 1000mph with a PH smilie on it's arse, even a remapped 335d would struggle to compete with that!!
An excellent day. Plenty of project news, plenty of techie stuff (some of which I almost understood 
), plenty of merchandise and plenty of opportunities to speak with the team (Noble, Green, Ayers etc). The amazing thing is that the project is not only being fully-supported by major engineering companies, but also by the MOD as they need to reduce the lowering numbers of British engineering students. The MOD is expected to employ British engineers, so something must be done to address the problem, and BloodhoundSSC is seen as an iconic project ideally set to attract and inspire engineers for the future.
There were also a couple of cracking video clips - test firing a 6" rocket motor and the V12 4 litre 800bhp fuel pump on the test bed running at 10K
IMO, the club is well-worth joining, see the website for details.
), plenty of merchandise and plenty of opportunities to speak with the team (Noble, Green, Ayers etc). The amazing thing is that the project is not only being fully-supported by major engineering companies, but also by the MOD as they need to reduce the lowering numbers of British engineering students. The MOD is expected to employ British engineers, so something must be done to address the problem, and BloodhoundSSC is seen as an iconic project ideally set to attract and inspire engineers for the future.There were also a couple of cracking video clips - test firing a 6" rocket motor and the V12 4 litre 800bhp fuel pump on the test bed running at 10K
IMO, the club is well-worth joining, see the website for details.
Edited by chim666 on Sunday 7th December 19:09
johnfelstead said:
Thanks for the post, I've joined the club.
I went to the University lectures they gave after Thrust SCC had set the record, fantastic stuff!
Excellent John!I went to the University lectures they gave after Thrust SCC had set the record, fantastic stuff!
It'll be good to meet you again (I met up with you at Brands in 2007 when you were fettling Frank Bradley's March )
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