Bloodhound announces date for land speed record attempt in October 2017 at the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa
Preparing for a land-speed record is a massively complex and time-consuming endeavor. Twenty years after Andy Green set his first land speed record in the Thrust SSC, he is ready with a new challenger: Bloodhound.
Aiming to break the 800-mile per hour barrier and even the 1,000 mile per hour barrier, testing is scheduled to start in Autumn of next year at the Hakskeen Pan, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. To put this into context, 800 mile per hour is over three times that of the Bugatti Chiron’s theoretical top speed of 261 miles per hour.
At 800 miles per hour, an object travels 1,173 feet per second. Bloodhound would cover the length of a Football field in a third of a second.
The 800-mile per barrier is not the first test. In June 2017, Bloodhound will begin shakedown testing in Newquay hitting a target speed of 220 miles per hour. The Pagani Huayra travels a mere four miles per hour faster.
Until testing begins, Bloodhound’s engineers are stripping the car down and documenting every aspect of the build process to ensure that everything is done correctly in South Africa. At the same time, the team’s rapid response and turnaround around team are training for the 40-minute turnaround needed to set a two-way record.
Transportation of the 44-foot long Rolls Royce aero engine bullet will be air-freighted on a Boeing 747 to Upington, South Africa, the transported to Kakskeen Pan on the back of a truck.
What is the speed that the team needs to beat? 763.035 miles per hour, recorded at Black Rock Desert in the United States on October 15, 1997. It was the first Land Speed Record car to break the sound barrier.
According to Project Director and former Land Speed Record-holder Richard Noble, ‘This will probably be the biggest moment in the Project’s history. Before we could only see financially a few months ahead but now we can put our foot down and really go for it.’
