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Bloodhound blazes through first public test runs
Nov 01, 2017
Bloodhound blazes through first public test runs
The British supersonic car designed to travel at speeds of up to 1,000mph - faster than a bullet – has completed its first public test runs.
Bloodhound blazes through first public test runs
The British supersonic car designed to travel at speeds of up to 1,000mph - faster than a bullet – has completed its first public test runs.
Bloodhound blazes through first public test runs
The British supersonic car designed to travel at speeds of up to 1,000mph - faster than a bullet – has completed its first public test runs.
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Bloodhound SSC made its first public test runs in Cornwall on 26 October as part of the team’s preparations to smash the current world land speed record that currently stands at 763mph.
The British built supersonic car, which was driven by RAF Wing Commander Andy Green, carried out initial ‘slow-speed’ trials of around 200mph on the runway at Newquay Airport in front of a crowd of 3,000 supporters and VIPs.
The 13.47 metre long car is currently powered by a Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine and when this is combined with a Norwegian rocket motor, it will generate a combined 135,000 thrust horsepower, equivalent to 180 Formula One cars.
To that end, every aspect of the car has been designed for speed, including the distinctive blue and orange paintwork that needed to be ultra-smooth and lightweight.
3M Atherstone’s Automotive Refinish Centre (ARC) in Warwickshire was chosen as the perfect place for preparing and painting the bodywork of the supersonic car as it houses a first-class spray booth and top-of-the-range equipment.
The car spent time at the site in the summer of 2015 for work on its front half and returned in January 2017 to have the upper chassis sprayed, keeping the vehicle as smooth as possible to reduce turbulence on the skin, but without adding too much weight to the car.
It is exactly 20 years since Commander Green set the current land speed record when he drove the jet-powered Thrust SSC vehicle through the sound barrier in the American Nevada desert to register a speed of 763mph.
His new machine benefits from two decades of technological improvement and will have the assistance not only of a state-of-the-art Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine, but the thrust of a rocket motor.
The car is now beginning a series of slow-speed trials to test the performance of the Eurofighter power unit and to run the rule over the vehicle's steering, brakes, suspension and electronics systems.
Bloodhound SSC aims to smash the current world land speed record in 2020 when it will unleash its full power on a special track prepared on a dried-out lakebed in Northern Cape, South Africa.
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