Except this is no dog, this is a car. The Brits who officially broke the sound barrier on wheels 12 years ago are back with a project to go 1,000 mph in South Africa. The SSC Thrust hit 763 mph for an average using two jet fighter engines but that isn’t enough now that others want to break the record. With a hybrid rocket motor this project is aimed at more than setting an amazing record. They are hoping the involvement of schools and universities will have an effect like the Apollo moon shots did back in the 1960’s by bringing in more students into science degrees.
Quote of the article:
Put it this way, if you fired what used to be the most powerful handgun in the world, Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum, at the tail of the rocket/jet car as it passed and Green toggled the 20,500lb thrust hybrid rocket as the revolver went off, the bullet would never hit the car.
I wonder how big a speeding ticket he’d get for that?
But seriously, I’m skeptical they can do it because the low level speed record for an aircraft is only 994 mph. An aircraft has a lot less friction to deal with -- not only involving air but with no energy being lost to contact with the ground. The other thing worrying is the dual engine concept with a jet engine and a hybrid rocket motor. That won’t be the easiest thing to work out. It reminds me of Chuck Yeager’s flight in a similarly augmented NF-104A Starfighter that ended in a crash so vividly depicted in The Right Stuff.
Speaking of Starfighters, I’m looking forward to seeing if the North American Eagle team can break 800 mph with an adapted F-104 Starfighter fuselage on wheels. Being very fond of the F-104 in all its incarnations, I’m rooting for their success. They’ve been ramping up test runs and have run into some problems lately but it doesn’t look project threatening.
Most people don’t know of it, but back in 1979 Stan Barret broke the sound barrier in the Budweiser Rocket Car built by Hal Needham’s team. Sadly, the first supersonic car run couldn’t be recognized because it had three wheels and only did a one way trip. Check out the story at YouTube:
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