Photo: Bloodhound
A small army of people is currently sweeping across the Hakskeenpan desert in South Africa, clearing any objects that might come in the way of a vehicle powered by a Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine setting a speed record.
317 people, all part of a local community, have played their part in a process that could lead to an achievement for the ages.
All the work in the desert is being done so that the Bloodhound LSR (Land Speed Record) vehicle could begin its test runs before an actual attempt to reach record speeds is made. To create the track in the middle of nowhere, the Northern Cape Government had 16,500 tons of rock moved out of the way, by hand. This is according to the team the largest area of land ever cleared this way for a motorsport event
In parallel with the painstaking work of clearing debris, the car’s team has begun assembling the car after it arrived in pieces from Luxembourg. On October 21, before the very first test run, the car will be assembled in full working order.
After that, it will begin a month-long program that will see it go down a 10 mile (16 km) desert racetrack, running faster and faster each time until a speed of over 500 mph (800 km) is reached. This achievement will place the Bloodhound in the top ten list of fastest vehicles on land.
The big prize however is beating the world speed record, which in 1997 was set by the Thrust SSC at 763.035 mph (1,227.9 kph).
To do this, the Bloodhound relies on a RollsRoyce EJ200 jet engine that usually powers one of Europe’s most widely used fighter planes. The engine develops 90 kN of thrust, or 54,000 thrust horsepower, which is about the same power as the 360 family cars combined.
The team has not yet revealed when the actual record-setting attempt will be made.
All the work in the desert is being done so that the Bloodhound LSR (Land Speed Record) vehicle could begin its test runs before an actual attempt to reach record speeds is made. To create the track in the middle of nowhere, the Northern Cape Government had 16,500 tons of rock moved out of the way, by hand. This is according to the team the largest area of land ever cleared this way for a motorsport event
In parallel with the painstaking work of clearing debris, the car’s team has begun assembling the car after it arrived in pieces from Luxembourg. On October 21, before the very first test run, the car will be assembled in full working order.
After that, it will begin a month-long program that will see it go down a 10 mile (16 km) desert racetrack, running faster and faster each time until a speed of over 500 mph (800 km) is reached. This achievement will place the Bloodhound in the top ten list of fastest vehicles on land.
The big prize however is beating the world speed record, which in 1997 was set by the Thrust SSC at 763.035 mph (1,227.9 kph).
To do this, the Bloodhound relies on a RollsRoyce EJ200 jet engine that usually powers one of Europe’s most widely used fighter planes. The engine develops 90 kN of thrust, or 54,000 thrust horsepower, which is about the same power as the 360 family cars combined.
The team has not yet revealed when the actual record-setting attempt will be made.
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