Engineering news
Funding is in place for the rest of the Bloodhound SSC project to go-ahead, with the first 800mph record attempt to be performed at Hakskeen Pan, South Africa, 20 years to the month that its predecessor, Thrust SSC, set the existing land speed record of 763.035mph.
Bloodhound’s second run, which will see the Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) attempt to go faster than 1,000mph, is planned to take place in 2018 because extra rockets have to be fitted to boost its speed.
The project to design, build and run a vehicle capable of travelling faster than 1,000mph was originally launched in 2008, but a series of technical and funding problems has meant that the Bloodhound team has had to delay the record attempt several times.
The latest hiatus in development was caused by a funding gap of around £7 million, required for the last phase of testing and engineering development, as well as operations while in South Africa. That shortfall has now been met, but the identity of the new funding partners has not been revealed.
The “trial-build” car, which was first revealed in September 2015 will now be taken apart so that re-assembly can be documented and any “necessary modifications” made. Bloodhound SSC’s first run under its own power will be a 220mph “shakedown test”, planned to take place at the Newquay Aerohub, Cornwall during June 2017.
The run at Hakskeen Pan during October will then target breaking 800mph with the car equipped with a single rocket booster. According to the Bloodhound SSC team, funding is in place for the 1,000mph run to take place during 2018. However, further engineering development and modifications are required to fit a cluster of three rockets to the vehicle.
The car is powered by a combination of a donated Eurojet EJ200 jet engine of the same type used in the Eurofighter Typhoon and a hybrid rocket developed by Norwegian aerospace company Nammo.
The team said: “The car has been designed for one rocket, but Nammo have told us it is better to have a cluster of three, so the back end of the car has to be redeveloped, including the suspension because of the extra weight.”
Project director Richard Noble said: “This is probably 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.
“We’re in this position thanks to the incredible support of our partners and sponsors, and the dedication and sacrifice of many people, including a skeleton crew who have held the fort and quite literally kept the lights on.
“We have come through this difficult stage wiser, leaner and fitter. Bloodhound is now in race preparation which means the pace and the pressure will ramp up but so too will the sense of satisfaction as we head towards our Car breaking the sound barrier for the first time, with the world watching!”
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is a major sponsor of Bloodhound SSC. Jon Hilton, president of the IMechE, said: “This is hugely exciting news, Bloodhound SSC is one of the most exciting and ground-breaking projects happening in UK. The UK is facing an engineering skills shortage and we need projects like Bloodhound SSC to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists.
“The project is also UK engineering at its most cutting-edge and the open access nature of the project means that the advances made to develop this car could potentially be used in a myriad of different applications and by different industries.”
An in-depth interview with Mark Chapman, chief engineer of Bloodhound SSC can be read here and a look at the latest education initiative from the project here.