Bloodhound SSC - To 1000mph and Beyond

Land Speed Record Comes To Town

Computer generated image of the Bloodhound SSC.

It is very possible that the last roll of the Land Speed Record dice is to happen in our lifetime. Once the Bloodhound SSC project has reached (or not, as the case may be) its target of 1000mph it is unlikely that the laws of physics will permit any further increases. Not only that, but after that figure has been reached, what would be the next meaningful and, more importantly, achievable milestone? Surely an incremental advance, such as happened in the thirties, would hold little appeal for backers and public alike.

Richard Noble and Andy Green have annexed the record for the last 28 years, first with Noble’s 633mph and later with Andy Green’s breaking of the sound barrier on land at 763mph. In between those attempts were pretenders to the crown; nor were they without serious credentials. Names such as Breedlove, McGlashan and McLaren International all provided the necessary spur to Noble and his team to reach for the sound barrier. That they succeeded again where the others failed was testament to the British team’s tenacity and skill.

Aussie Invader 5R

Now, Bloodhound is set to push the record out of reach for all time; if it can get there first, that is. Once again the global contenders are assembling for this one last desperate attempt at the ultimate motoring goal. From Australia there is the indefatigable Roscoe McGlashan and the Aussie Invader 5R and from America is the American Eagle. With the nature of the challenge comes immense danger as new regions of speed are explored. Because of this, no-one is going to go straight out and try for 1000mph. Each of the teams will build up to their maximum in a series of carefully planned runs over a couple of years.

The North American Eagle. 

Thus we should see a return to the golden eras of record breaking when the record shuttled back and forth between two or more players over a short period of time; Campbell and Segrave; Cobb and Eyston; Breedlove, Arfons and Gabelich.

Critics of the LSR have been many through the years, questioning the point of the exercise. Many are the times when the answer has been, like Everest; because it’s there to be beaten. But this time, it is not enough to do it because it is there. Record breaking costs huge money and that money doesn’t grow on trees. Sponsors have to invest in possibly the most uncertain project of all; success is not guaranteed and sponsors need to see a return on their investment. Failure does not necessarily constitute that return.

So this time Noble has addressed a serious issue. There is possibly not a country in the world that is lacking in essential skills in its workforce. His last two record attempts have highlighted the dire need for engineering expertise to be nurtured and developed. With Bloodhound, he has called it an Engineering Adventure and made the bedrock of the project to involve schools, colleges and universities in an attempt to share the excitement and foster an interest in engineering at grass-roots level. This way companies can see the real, long-term benefit of supporting the project.

It is possible, however, in an age obsessed and satiated with speed, that the excitement and wonder generated by such a feat of engineering may prompt stifled yawns among the very people it is hoped will be inspired.

     

But the fact remains that the margin by which Bloodhound will surpass even the most astoundingly fast road car of modern times is still the same margin that Segrave or Campbell surpassed performance cars of their era. Today, a Bugatti Veyron will travel faster with an 8-litre engine than Malcolm Campbell managed in 1931with a 26.9-litre engine and he didn’t get to run to the shops in his car! But Campbell’s 246mph was just as out-of-this-world to motorists of his day, when even 70mph in a road car was an achievement.

So why should we in South Africa get excited? Because this (potentially) last chapter in a century-plus-long obsession with ultimate speed is to happen right here on South African soil. Well, desert actually; a remote part of the Northern Cape called Hakskeen Pan has been selected as the prime location by the Bloodhound team. Nearly 80 years after Malcolm Campbell chose Verneuk Pan as the venue for a record attempt, South Africa is once again on the LSR map. And this one is going to be the daddy of them all.