Bloodhound's 461-mph speed is big but team eyes bigger record ahead

The jet engines are versions of the EJ200 that were used in the original development of the Eurofighter. If I understand correctly, they're still owned by the Ministry of Defense, but they're no longer suitable for combat use. They were loaned on condition that Bloodhound runs a initiative to foster interest in science and technology in schools, and the original Bloodhound programme was very effective in that sense. I don't know what the current deal is since bankrupcy and the buyout last year, but I'm pretty sure Ian Wakehurst wouldn't have invested if the MoD hadn't agreed to the continued use of the engines.

One of the complications of using the EJ200 is that the engine's own control systems assume the engine is in a Eurofighter. So the car control systems need to pretend to be a Eurofighter, as they can't modify the engine's control systems.

This is essentially the same team than achieved 763 mph in 1997 with Thrust SSC. Andy Green drove then, and is the driver of Bloodhound now. Ron Ayers was the aerodynamicist for both cars. Richard Noble who set the land speed record in Thrust 2 and was project director for Thrust SSC was also project director for Bloodhound. There's no more experienced team.

Back in 1997, Thrust SSC had enough power to achieve greater speeds than 763 mph, but proved to be nearly uncontrollable. They learned from those lessons, and Bloodhound not only has more power (or will do when they add the rocket engine), but also benefits from years of CFD research. But funding was difficult, and it's taken well over a decade to get this far. Last year the project went bankrupt, only to be rescued at the last minute by Ian Warhurst. The news is that after so long, and so much development effort, the car is finally on the salt flats and progressively increasing speeds as step by step they validate all the new technologies and also validate the actual behaviour matches the models. The fact that after such a difficult path, they've got this far is noteworthy, and bodes well for a full attempt on the record next year.

It's like SpaceX having a successful starhopper launch.

How much less than 1g of downforce can you apply, and still be considered a ground vehicle? I feel like once the power is no longer being applied through the wheels that's a sign you may have crossed over! Still insanely cool, in any case.

Well, shit, I guess I'm old, I remember it being free all my life.

Actually; it looks like this was introduced in June this year:

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventr...

That's a huge shame as there's not many attractions in Coventry really.

Fantastic read. I took a regular production car once up to 200 mph, it was an experience I would not care to repeat. These guys are aiming for way above that and are not only good at engineering but also at communicating, this article is really very nice. Thank you for the link.