Interview with Bloodhound SSC
Find The Engineer Presents the 1000mph Car!
The
British have held the land speed record for 70 of the 112 years of its
existence. These cars epitomise the highest possible levels of technology for
their age and the very high speeds achieved represent true pioneering and
engineering excellence. The current record is held by Richard Noble’s Thrust
SSC driven by Andy Green. Now, there is a new challenger from Bristol who is
looking to break his own record. Richard Noble, again, is heading up the
Bloodhound SSC project.
Find The Engineer’s Mark Ralph caught up with long time friend Mark Elvin, who
has worked in the past for Westland Helicopters, Williams F1 team and then
designed race transporters for F1. Now a Bloodhound design engineer, Mark is
designing many parts of the vehicle including its famous fin.
“This is
by far the best job I’ve ever had. It’s truly mad! It uses all your brainpower
and knowledge as an engineer to overcome huge hurdles on aerodynamics as well
as looking to keep the vehicle as light as possible lightweight and on budget –
which varies.”
The
Thrust SSC car driven by RAF pilot Andy Green was the first land vehicle to
break the sound barrier, establishing the first ever supersonic land speed
record at 763.035mph in October 1997. A record which still stands.
Richard
Noble who ran the Thrust SSC project decided to build the Bloodhound SSC to
break his own record stop the Americans from taking it & above all, to act
as a showcase for engineering as a career “You see”, continues Mark “1000mph on
land is the next Concorde moment”.
The car is
named after the Bristol Bloodhound missile, which could do over Mach1 in 2.6
seconds from takeoff & shares the same chief aerodynamicist, Ron Ayers.
As an iconic engineering programme it is run through schools, with the hope it
will stimulate a new generation of engineers. “I have been to auto shows and events,
including my daughters’ school and the excitement from everyone you talk to is
immense.”
The research element of the programme to produce the first 1000mph car has
taken far longer to develop than expected but now the Bloodhound team has a
safe and viable design for the world’s first 1000mph 133,000hp car.
With companies, schools,
universities and colleges taking part, the team plans to build and roll-out in
late 2013, UK runway testing early 2013 in preparation for low speed test runs
in South Africa late 2014 (up to 850mph, taking a new land speed record in the
process) & the full fat, 1000mph runs during 2015.
The car (yes it has
four wheels and a steering wheel – of sorts), uses a formula 1 car engine just
to power its rocket oxidizer pump, a hybrid rocket and an EJ200 jet engine from a Typhoon fighter
plane, but the Bloodhound SSC shape is completely different to anything seen
before.
The car
needs to minimise the cross-sectional area to minimise drag, whilst remaining
‘lift neutral’ at all speeds to ensure the car stays safely on the ground.
“In the design, packaging of all the
components including Andy (the driver) has been a difficult issue. He and his
cockpit have ended up just under the EJ200 intake, with the cockpit external
shape being a part of the all important intake shock management structure. Andy
has lost out on comfort value there, but that’s one of the compromises that
have been necessary in developing a Mach 1.4 car.”
Land-speed record cars have had big fins to
ensure good stability. But too much fin means a car which will severely
be affected by increased drag and not enough fin means that the car will be
directionally unstable. The designers believe that Bloodhound SSC will have excellent
directional stability.
So will they do it? If you spend a short time
with any of the team you will be convinced they will easily break 1000mph. “My
only worry is not if we will reach 1000mph, but what I will do after this.
Where can you go from here?”
Good point Mark, so what do you do when
you’re not travelling the UK or making the fastest car in the world?
“It’s difficult to unwind,
but normal stuff. Sleep! Beating you on the Xbox, swimming, cycling, be a
husband to a lovely wife & being a taxi in a normal car, to my two lovely
daughters.”
The Bloodhound SSC team are
touring the UK and were based near the SS Great Britain in Bristol – in a shed! Now they are in large premises in Avonmouth near the Severn. 
Call us today on 0845 021 2-4-6-8
www.findtheengineer.com
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