Bloodhound set to be driven for the first time in October

11th August 2017

By: Irma Venter

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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The Bloodhound supersonic car (SSC) will be driven for the first time at Cornwall Airport Newquay, in the UK, this October, 20 years after the current land-speed record of 1 228 km/h was set.

Wing Commander Andy Green, who steered the Thrust SSC to a new record on October 15, 1997, will also be at the wheel of the Bloodhound SSC as it is put through its paces.

The Newquay runway trials will mark the culmination of a month of tests to prove the car’s steering, brakes, suspension, data systems, and so forth, as well as the EJ200 jet engine, sourced from a Eurofighter Typhoon.

The Bloodhound is expected to be driven at speeds of up to 321 km/h on the 2.7-km-long runway.

The final record attempt will take place on South Africa’s Hakskeen Pan, in the Northern Cape, in 2018, when the ultimate goal is to reach a speed of 1 600 km/h.

Before it moves under its own power at Newquay, the Bloodhound will undergo several days of static tie-down tests.

The jet engine will be run up, with the car chained to the ground, so that the performance of the car’s bespoke air intake, fuel and electrical systems can be checked. All being well, this will be followed by dynamic testing.

Of primary interest is the low-speed capability of the jet engine intake, positioned above the cockpit.

Designed to work best at speeds of more than 1 287 km/h, the project engineers need to understand how it performs at very low speeds.

Having real-world acceleration data will enable Bloodhound chief aerodynamicist Ron Ayers to plan the sequence of runs in South Africa that, it is hoped, will result in a new land-speed record.

The Newquay trial will also be Green’s first opportunity to drive the car and experience the steering feel, throttle, brake action, noise and vibration, which cannot be simulated.

It takes a team to run the Bloodhound and this will also be the first opportunity to train the support crew, as well as develop the car’s operating procedures, prove and refine the safety protocols, and practise radio communications, before heading for the Kalahari in late 2018.

During the Newquay tests, the car will be powered by a jet engine alone and use wheels shod with pneumatic tyres, 84 cm in diameter, from an English Electric Lightning fighter, specially reconditioned by Dunlop. (The Bloodhound has three power plants, a Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet, a cluster of Nammo hybrid rockets and a supercharged Jaguar V8 engine that drives the rocket oxidiser pump.)

As the runway wheels and suspension are slightly thicker than the solid aluminium wheels that will be used in the desert, some sections of carbon fibre bodywork will not be fitted.

“The runway trials at Cornwall Airport Newquay will be the biggest milestone in the history of the project so far,” says Bloodhound project director Richard Noble.

“They will provide important data on the performance of the car and give us a first opportunity to rehearse the procedures we’ll use when we go record breaking.

“Just as importantly, it is a way of saying thank you to the schools, students, families and companies, big and small, [that] support the project.

“Last year alone, we directly engaged with over 100 000 students in the UK and we have already seen more students take up engineering as a result of Project Bloodhound. With the car running, we can showcase science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the most exciting way possible.”

The Model Rocket Car Challenge, supported by Guinness World Records, has seen students build model cars capable initially of speeds of 141 km/h, which then rose to 338 km/h and now 890 km/h, a record held by Joseph Whitaker Young Engineers Club.

The educational outreach programme also runs in South Africa, with more than 1 278 schools participating.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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