Bloodhound LSR Thread As Requested...
Discussion
Excellent news. Especially after the recent tone of this thread, it was a real delight to see the news this morning.
The quote on Insider sounds very positive, I look forward to hearing Mr Warhurst's plans.
The quote on Insider sounds very positive, I look forward to hearing Mr Warhurst's plans.
Inisder Article said:
"Ian has a strong background in managing highly successful businesses in the automotive engineering sector and he will bring considerable expertise to bear in taking the project forward. He will be outlining his plans for the project in detail early in the New Year.
"In the meantime, we would particularly like to thank the Ministry of Defence and Rolls Royce for their support and collaboration throughout this process, without which it would not have been possible for the project to be in a position to continue."
https://www.insidermedia.com/insider/yorkshire/yor..."In the meantime, we would particularly like to thank the Ministry of Defence and Rolls Royce for their support and collaboration throughout this process, without which it would not have been possible for the project to be in a position to continue."
dilbert2000 said:
rev-erend said:
I've just heard the good news on the BBC news website..
Better than all the earlier very negative posts on here.
Lets hope the new guy in change and take stock of the project and help to refocus it in the near future.
Ditching the educational nonsense would be a good start!Better than all the earlier very negative posts on here.
Lets hope the new guy in change and take stock of the project and help to refocus it in the near future.
IN51GHT said:
Equus said:
It did always amuse me that IN51GHT - whose username presumably derives from the fact that he drives a Honda Insight Mk.1, and who is now working on an electric aircraft project - should have chosen to waste several years of his life working on this pointless dinosaur.
Do you not have a good word to say about anybody?I did have a collection of Mk1 Insights & I'm always on the lookout for another, now I drive EV's as my daily however.
It was about the challenge for me, not everybody wants a boring 9-5 job, I had one for a few years after I chose to leave Williams, F1 & a young family just don't work. Doing the 9-5 nearly killed me, yes it was easy money, but I was dying inside.
Thankfully in 2011 the phone rang & it was Bloodhound, saved me from a life of boredom at work.
king stick, but a better one than he dug yesterday.Do you ever go to bed at night wondering that while other people are trying to achieve something that they think is worthwhile, your main contribution is to make their day slightly worse for having you in it? Does it give you a little hard on that you can have an effect in the world, even if it is to make it worse? Like an unloved difficult teen smashing up a phone box or setting fire to things, desperate for attention?
crofty1984 said:
There are a lot of engineers that would have given their right arm to work on this “pointless dinosaur”. People want to try and push boundaries, to take something that is as it is today and make it better for their efforts for tomorrow. Whether or not you or anyone else thinks it’s worthy. The same is true of art, music, raising a family, engineering or just a child in a playground digging a hole with a fking stick, but a better one than he dug yesterday.
Do you ever go to bed at night wondering that while other people are trying to achieve something that they think is worthwhile, your main contribution is to make their day slightly worse for having you in it? Does it give you a little hard on that you can have an effect in the world, even if it is to make it worse? Like an unloved difficult teen smashing up a phone box or setting fire to things, desperate for attention?
+1king stick, but a better one than he dug yesterday.Do you ever go to bed at night wondering that while other people are trying to achieve something that they think is worthwhile, your main contribution is to make their day slightly worse for having you in it? Does it give you a little hard on that you can have an effect in the world, even if it is to make it worse? Like an unloved difficult teen smashing up a phone box or setting fire to things, desperate for attention?
It's a relief that it's been bought by someone interested in finishing it and using it as was intended. I feared it would end up in a Saudi Prince's living room, as some sort of trophy.
The last time I applied for a role that had a vacancy on the project, I was unsuccessful (unsurprising, I only have experience of building brisk cars, not quick ones). Would love to have a chance to be involved in it, it's a pity this (and every other Bloodhound thread) descended into such mudslinging though along the way.
ecsrobin said:
Ian Warhurst has just sold his turbocharger company to a US business so guessing that freed up some cash? https://www.insidermedia.com/insider/yorkshire/tur...
Where we're going, we don't need turbochargers... ...well, except maybe for the fuel pump.
dilbert2000 said:
Ditching the educational nonsense would be a good start!
I hope not. The educational part of the project will help to attract sponsors. "For the kiddies of today to become the engineers of tomorrow!" Sounds better than "Helping one man realise his ego trip - buy our stuff!".And the educational side WILL help inspire high-end engineering in this country, which is what we do best. I'd put money on the fact that in 20 years time, we'll be driving round in cars (electric or otherwise) designed by at least a couple of people that wouldn't have been engineers had Bloodhound not existed at all.
That's the trouble with this kind of thing, unfortunately. You can't say "Today we develop x, tomorrow we will get x+1 out of it". It's more subtle. Like a pioneering method of delivering medicine and vaccines to the affected body part invented and saving lives, because one kid went on a school trip 30 years before and saw a car powered by bloody rockets, made him want to concentrate more in his science class.
IN51GHT said:
I actually had tea come out of my nose when I read that.
The Rock can play any role, even an engineer. Imagine, its late, everyone has gone home, there's a last minute engineering problem to resolve, after a looooong think our man flexes his eyebrow and BAM, the problem is solved.
tigerkoi said:
It does depend on what ‘saved’ means? Saved the project and hass bankrolled it to fulfill its ambition, or just bought all the assets at knockdown price?
Technically the latter, but I assume if they wanted it as an ornament it would have been cheaper to buy at a slightly later date!We don't know how deep their pockets really are (other than guesswork based on news articles), although if it were you or me I guess we'd fund it to supersonic trials and then look at sponsorship as it all becomes more of a reality?
It looks like he's a sound businessman though, which is what it seems like the project needs.
Gareth79 said:
Technically the latter, but I assume if they wanted it as an ornament it would have been cheaper to buy at a slightly later date!
We don't know how deep their pockets really are (other than guesswork based on news articles), although if it were you or me I guess we'd fund it to supersonic trials and then look at sponsorship as it all becomes more of a reality?
It looks like he's a sound businessman though, which is what it seems like the project needs.
Totally. Saying that, some people have awful taste and might just love a potential supersonic car on a plinth next to the gaudy Doric columns that adorn their front door We don't know how deep their pockets really are (other than guesswork based on news articles), although if it were you or me I guess we'd fund it to supersonic trials and then look at sponsorship as it all becomes more of a reality?
It looks like he's a sound businessman though, which is what it seems like the project needs.
For sure it’s guesswork at present, but looking at it from a ‘business’ perspective, then regardless of how much he’s got (or even attempts to plough into it) then interesting to see if he sees this as a business opportunity or just an indulgence.
Donations only go so far, and some people may feel their fingers burnt from before, plus educating kids during a STEM class isn’t paved with gold either with LEAs struggling to fund even the basics at schools. It’s hard to see LSR chasing as a firm, enduring, profit making company, but, good luck to him. Will be looking keenly at his approach when he announces his plans in the NY.
dfen5 said:
What I don’t get about this, is why put someone in it? All the risk, space and life support requirements when a laptop would do a better job and no body if it goes wrong.
Anyway, ditch the bodged up looking ‘200mph tested’ jet dinosaur, shrink it, railgun tech.
I believe that’s part of the problem that the project has encountered. People going in with the ( seemingly ) increasingly commonly encountered ‘trivialise everything’ attitude. “All you need to do is just to put a computer controlled, unmanned, rocket drone, sled, out in a desert somewhere, then fire it in to a catch net, turn it round, and do it in the opposite direction, yeah” “simple innit, yeah”. Too many people just want to do it the easiest way possible, but don’t want to bother themselves with little inconveniences / trivialities like actually making it a worthwhile exercise. The devil is in the detail, the detail is where the difficulty / challenge lies.Anyway, ditch the bodged up looking ‘200mph tested’ jet dinosaur, shrink it, railgun tech.
dfen5 said:
What I don’t get about this, is why put someone in it? All the risk, space and life support requirements when a laptop would do a better job and no body if it goes wrong.
Anyway, ditch the bodged up looking ‘200mph tested’ jet dinosaur, shrink it, railgun tech.
The object of the exercise is to break the Land Speed record, it only counts as breaking it if the driver is on board.Anyway, ditch the bodged up looking ‘200mph tested’ jet dinosaur, shrink it, railgun tech.
GOATever said:
I believe that’s part of the problem that the project has encountered. People going in with the ( seemingly ) increasingly commonly encountered ‘trivialise everything’ attitude. “All you need to do is just to put a computer controlled, unmanned, rocket drone, sled, out in a desert somewhere, then fire it in to a catch net, turn it round, and do it in the opposite direction, yeah” “simple innit, yeah”. Too many people just want to do it the easiest way possible, but don’t want to bother themselves with little inconveniences / trivialities like actually making it a worthwhile exercise. The devil is in the detail, the detail is where the difficulty / challenge lies.
That's as good a summary as I've seen of where things sit in general these days, let alone something like Bloodhound. When it faced financial hurdles, the vultures started circling, ready to explain the faults, errors and bad ideas relating to the project. Of course, it's easy to be critical of projects like this, and dumb down the engineering challenges, if there's no intention to actually prove them wrong. That's the power of the internet - I wonder if previous record setting cars faced the same critique over the decades. There are two ways of approaching these types of projects; A) The methodical, logical approach where everything is theoretically worked out and concepts proven by analysis, so that when manufacture of the actual car begins, you're building something that should operate as per your simulations. After which time, incremental testing schedules help you creep up on performance, without risking the car and the driver.
B) Alternatively, there's the PH approach, which is a bit gung ho, old school, strap a big rocket to an old bit of tube called Thrust SSC because "it'll be fine". If these things were easy, everyone would do it. There's a brilliant documentary on YouTube about Thrust SSC, and it's a great watch. LSR was a different thing just 21 years ago (financial constraints were already a problem, but less than today, and I cant help but think the project was managed in a leaner fashion back then). When you see the footage and data traces, it's very apparent that the car was on the ragged edge and there wasn't much left in the tank in terms of stability.
To just lick the stamp and send it 1000mph, not knowing what's going to happen, is more than a little fool hardy, and unfortunately, individuals with experience of building and driving cars capable of high speeds, are in short supply, especially on this forum (the cars I'm involved in only go 240-290mph), so when someone's brave enough to put their head above the parapet and provide some insider knowledge to the project, it baffles me why it would face such ridicule.
I'm hopeful the project finds its feet again, it's come too far already to pull the plug - and the car's too long to be a coffee table in the lounge.
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