Wednesday 16th May 2018

Bloodhound SSC 500mph run slips to 2019

But team hopes to exceed 800mph before the end of the next year after 'game changing' development

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It'll be ten years this October since the team behind Bloodhound SSC announced their intention to build a 'car' capable of matching or exceeding 1000mph. By its own admission, there have 'been many false dawns' along the way, and the project's latest statement has to work rather hard to find the silver lining in yet another delay to the proposed schedule.

Brass tacks, the jet-powered machine won't be heading to South Africa this year to begin further sub-sonic testing, which was supposed to be the next stage in development following an initial run at Newquay airport in October. The visit to the Northern Cape desert has slipped to May 2019, meaning it'll be another year before we get to see if Bloodhound can make the critical transition from a 200mph trundle to a 500mph sprint.

The upside of the postponement is that (should everything go to plan) there will be no need to bring the car back to the UK after its second test - meaning an assault on the 763.065mph land speed record could potentially occur in October or November of the same year. With any luck, this will be off the back of a 'very significant development' in the team's ability to raise funds, following two years worth of discussions with a 'major third party'.

Details of this new arrangement remained pinned to Richard Noble's chest for now, although he has confirmed that the development of the mono-propellant rocket (critical for any record attempt) will resume in the summer at the Newquay Aero Hub. A stab at the 1000mph limit would likely have to wait till 2020, by which time Andy Green will be 58 - having been 35 when he hit Mach 1.016 in ThrustSSC.

Whatever form of sponsorship or investment is now in the works, Noble calls it a 'game changer' - although recent setbacks have been virtually out of the team's hands, with two important suppliers having gone into receivership before they were able to complete work on the project. That's just bad luck. Let's all hope a change of circumstances brings better fortune along with it.

[SydneyBridge]

good luck to them, when they do eventually get to try a record breaking run

[Croutons]

Geely was a game changer. Obviously not a big enough one. Shame, would be ace to see this [nearly] fly.

[rev-erend]

It's a real shame that progress has been so slow but still looking forward to seeing it run again.

[ChocolateFrog]

I went to Newquay for the test runs.

Would love to go see it run in SA but there's no way you could book flights at the moment with all the delays.

[ChocolateFrog]

Which companies went bust?

[kuro]

ChocolateFrog said:

I went to Newquay for the test runs.

Would love to go see it run in SA but there's no way you could book flights at the moment with all the delays.

I was there aswell. You had a feeling that the project was really gaining momentum on those runs.

[Ahonen]

Geoff Stilwell said:

I just wish Pistonheads would cover other Landspeed Projects that are actually happening.

This one is actually happening too.

Do you mean the Australian one?

[Evanivitch]

Geoff Stilwell said:

Mine for example. We will be testing June / July and ready to run in August at Bonneville. Not as fast but we are still aiming for over 250mph and hopefully will reset the class record.

Perhaps if you actually said what record you were breaking. It's not even in this article!

https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/uk/news/break...

You don't even say on your own website...

http://buamotorsport.com/7707-press-release-20th-d...

Edited by Evanivitch on Thursday 17th May 06:05

[ChocolateFrog]

Evanivitch said:

Geoff Stilwell said:

Mine for example. We will be testing June / July and ready to run in August at Bonneville. Not as fast but we are still aiming for over 250mph and hopefully will reset the class record.

Perhaps if you actually said what record you were breaking. It's not even in this article!

https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/uk/news/break...

You don't even say on your own website...

http://buamotorsport.com/7707-press-release-20th-d...

Edited by Evanivitch on Thursday 17th May 06:05

For me it just goes to highlight what a technical achievement bloodhound is. While other classes set records in the 200-300 mph range they're aiming for 4x that.

So what if it takes 10 years longer than planned, the fact no one has even surpassed the 97 record shows how difficult it is.

[frayz]

Words cannot begin to describe the amount of respect i have for these guys, their efforts, goals and achievements so far.
Having met Andy and Richard a number of times, they really are fantastic guys and i truly hope they achieve their goal of 1000mph with BHSSC.

Theres nobody more qualified than Andy to drive it, lets just hope the project is completed before his age becomes a limitation.

For Britain... and the hell of it!

[SpunkyM]

I think one thing's for sure.... If this thing does ever make it to 1,000mph (and let's all hope it remains financially viable long enough to do so), that record will stand for a very long time. I think anybody looking to break it in the future will look back at this project and be put off for life!

[IN51GHT]

Croutons said:

Geely was a game changer. Obviously not a big enough one. Shame, would be ace to see this [nearly] fly.

They are no longer involved.

[Zirconium]

IN51GHT said:

Croutons said:

Geely was a game changer. Obviously not a big enough one. Shame, would be ace to see this [nearly] fly.

They are no longer involved.

Oh dear, what happened there?

Also, are Nammo still involved? I was not sure why rocket testing would be taking place in Newquay rather than Norway.

[donteatpeople]

ChocolateFrog said:

Which companies went bust?

Composite suppliers that would have delivered the winglets and air-brakes.

[kuro]

IN51GHT said:

Croutons said:

Geely was a game changer. Obviously not a big enough one. Shame, would be ace to see this [nearly] fly.

They are no longer involved.

When did that happen?