‘The BLOODHOUND Genome’
August is normally a really quiet month, where nothing happens because everyone is on holiday. So why are we still so busy, with several commercial deals being discussed last month? I don’t know, but it’s a nice problem to have – we must be doing something right.
Last month we did something unique in the history of the World Land Speed Record. We published all the technical details of our Car – before we’ve even built it.
The Vehicle Technical Specification is sort of a 43-page long Genome of BLOODHOUND SSC: you could pretty much build one from this information, which is just what we’re doing.
You won’t find a motor racing team or aerospace company sharing this much information: they can’t afford to. This sort of access is unique to the Land Speed Record – it’s one of BLOODHOUND’s greatest strengths. This information won’t help our competitors much, as they are building radically different vehicles. It will help our education programme though: this gives students a real-time look at the ‘engineers bible’ for building a 1000 mph Car, which we’ll update as we go along.
Once again, Ron Ayers (our aerodynamics and performance guru) has come up with a brilliant observation. We have chosen a V-shaped keel profile for the wheels of the Car and the aerodynamic analysis shows that these wheels will reduce the drag of the vehicle by several percent.
The V-shaped keel on the BLOODHOUND wheel
So what? We can already reach 1000 mph with our current drag estimates. But as Ron pointed out, if we have some drag ‘to spare’, then we can use it to widen the rear wheel track, increasing the roll-over stability of the Car. This further improves BLOODHOUND SSC’s safety margins, so it gets my vote. Well done (again), Ron!
One of the most common questions about BLOODHOUND is ‘What about the G forces on the driver?’ As the Royal Air Force’s Chief Research Medical Officer Wing Commander Nic Green says, ‘these effects are likely to be quite uncomfortable, physically tiring and potentially distracting’. As a Royal Air Force Fighter Pilot, it’s nothing that I haven’t seen before, but it’s still something to think about.
Upside down – negative G to simulate BLOODHOUND SSC’s acceleration
It’s also something that the team has been asking about, so last month I invited them to come and try it for themselves in an Extra 300. As a high-performance aerobatic aircraft, the Extra 300 can easily reproduce the -2.3G (acceleration) and +3.3G (deceleration) forces that I’ll experience in BLOODHOUND SSC.
A Fighter Pilot’s aeroplane: The Extra 300
However, it’s not a comfortable experience and a few of the team were feeling ‘a bit rough’ afterwards. Nic Green’s description of ‘quite uncomfortable’ doesn’t really do it justice. After flying 8 passengers in a row, I’d had enough as well! It was worth doing though – it gave 8 of the team a chance to see what BLOODHOUND SSC’s G forces will feel like, and it gave me the confidence that I could drive as many runs as we need. I’m feeling that bit more ready to drive now.
Out in South Africa, our track preparation efforts are continuing. We are hugely fortunate to have the support of the Northern Cape Government – with 24 million square metres of track to clear, we need all the help that we can get.
We also need to make sure that we are fully compliant with the South African environmental legislation. In 1997 the Thrust SSC team set the current World Land Speed Record in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. At the end of that year, the team was presented with an environmental award from the US Government, for leaving ‘cleaner than when we arrived’. This is the standard that we must achieve again in South Africa.
I had no idea how we were going to approach this challenge, but our Track Boss, Rudi Riek, has found the perfect people to help. Two South African companies, Terrasoil and EkoInfo, have been surveying Hakskeen Pan to check that a Land Speed Record attempt will not do any environmental damage. While a formal Environmental Impact Assessment will take 6 months, the initial indications are very positive – from an environmental perspective, South Africa’s Northern Cape is the ideal place for the world’s first 1000 mph race track.
