Bloodhound LSR - the 1,000mph car project

[Disco_Volante]

The problem is diminishing returns. You can weld a jet engine to a sled, at the cost of a few grand and reach 500 mph without a hiccup. But what do you have to do to reach double that speed? You might need to make your sled aerodynamic. Alright, no pro- what about temperature? That's gonna be quite a lot of money, so add a few zeroes to the budget.

But that's not all, your sled isn't going to remain in one piece for long and you need it to last long enough to reach 1000 mph. Ok, just rebuild it with strong enough materials, but also light enough so that you don't need to spend more on a better engine. But alas, you've added yet another zero to the budget but there's just no material on earth that's light enough to reach 1000 mph with the engine you have so that's even more spending on a new engine.

Now do all of that while also adhering to the rules of "fastest ground vehicle with wheels". I wish it was as simple as you said but nowadays to break old records you need to push the limits and that gets expensive fast. Even ignoring safety and the ability to slow down once you reach your goal just doesn't give you enough freedom to do it cheaply.

 

[TexRex]

But that's not all, your sled isn't going to remain in one piece for long and you need it to last long enough to reach 1000 mph.

Twice. According to guidelines, you need to perform two timed runs in a small window. But that's okay, I'm not aware that IRSTA (International Rocket Sled Timing Association) actually exists anyway.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

On December 10, 1954.[6] Stapp reached a speed of 632 mph (1,017 km/h),[7] which broke the land speed record and made him the fastest man on earth

The current rocket sled railway record is mach 8 (unmanned) with a future potential of mach 10. The test facility was featured in the programme "Impossible Engineering" about high speed railways which I watched last night.

Sad to hear that the Bloodhound programme has folded, but possibly it is for the best as I would have hated for it to end in a fatality which must have been a very strong possibility.

 

[gladbecker82]

BBC is blaming everything on Brexit. Nobody can take this serious.

 

[TexRex]

Sad to hear that the Bloodhound programme has folded, but possibly it is for the best as I would have hated for it to end in a fatality which must have been a very strong possibility.

I mean...it'd be a testament to what man is capable of. Of course it would be a shame if something did go wrong and result in death, but I believe everything would be done to prevent serious injury in accomplishing the goal, just as I'm sure Andy Green does; I very much doubt he's suicidal.

 

[Firehound427]

Bloodhound is back!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-46591860

 

[Famine]

Bloodhound is back!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-46591860

(and this thread is the comments section for that article)

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

View attachment 787230​

(and this thread is the comments section for that article)

Happens to be the thread for more than one article about the Bloodhound. I could understand you pointing this out if said user had come straight from said article to repost the BBC version that came out before the GTP one, but that's probably not the case. Said user probably remembered the thread being a general conversation on said vehicle and decided to post the news they saw from a news site they frequent.

Also unlike the other couple articles that say this is the discussion thread for it, the lastest one does not thus another reason why the user probably didn't see it.

 

[Robin]

This is good news indeed but I do have to wonder how far this investment can take it because when the project folded they said they needed £25 million. Has Ian Warhurst really put in / going to put in £25 mil? He is worth around £60-70 mil but that's quite a chunk to invest in something that will offer minimal returns... maybe he's doing it just for fun!

 

[Carbon_6]

I guess Warhurst is one of the few in that sort of position where he can step in and do something like this, and seeing as himself and his family have been long-term supporters of Bloodhound, it probably wouldn't be surprising that he's had some undisclosed involvement with the project beyond today's announcement.

 

[Carbon_6]

Under the new ownership of Ian Warhurst, CEO of Grafton LSR Ltd., the Bloodhound project makes its official return with all new branding, and a relocation to a new facility at SGS Berkeley Green University Technical College on the Gloucestershire Science and Technology Park. Many of the original team members are still onboard, including Andy Green.



http://www.bloodhoundlsr.com/

 

[davidt33]

That rocket going to end up killing somebody.

 

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Supersonic Bloodhound Arrives in South Africa for First High-Speed Tests

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on October 22nd, 2019 in the Automotive News category.

 

[davidt33]

What if it hits a rock or some uneven surface at rocket speed and launches into space?

 

[MrCrynox]

What if it hits a rock or some uneven surface at rocket speed and launches into space?

Sonic Boom !

 

[Obelisk]

Sonic Boom !

I love and hate that this pun exists now.

 

[Famine]

What if it hits a rock or some uneven surface at rocket speed and launches into space?

As pointed out in the article, the Hakskeen Pan has been cleared of all rocks and stones along the track, by hand.

It's also going to be 16,500mph too slow to go into space.

 

[beezball]

Did I miss the headline last year when Lawrence Stroll bought racing point for 2.5 BILLION dollars? Somehow I think the writers math is off slightly... by several orders of magnitude.

 

[TexRex]

Did I miss the headline last year when Lawrence Stroll bought racing point for 2.5 BILLION dollars? Somehow I think the writers math is off slightly... by several orders of magnitude.

Looks pretty accurate to me.

The doors closed at the project’s Bristol HQ, which we visited in 2017, when the team couldn’t find £25m — or about 1.25% of the money Lawrence Stroll paid for the Racing Point F1 team — to finish everything off.

1.25% of $2,500,000,000 is $31,250,000, and at the current rate of exchange, that comes out to £24,327,287.38.

 

[93360]

I googled multiple sources stating that Stroll paid £90M for Force India, which means £25M is 27.7% of that figure and not 1.25%.

 

[Famine]

Oh fudgsicles. I was editing that part in - I was creating a bunch of comparisons, as I'd already used Neymar's right arm - and must have saved the draft with two of them smooshed together. Thanks for the spot (although if you could tag me next time, that'll let me know about it quicker).

Edit: Wait, we also used a version of that comparison before. Now I'll have to think up a new one. Maybe Lebron...

Edit: Yes, a Lebron comparo is perfect

 

[Moglet]

As pointed out in the article, the Hakskeen Pan has been cleared of all rocks and stones along the track, by hand.

This blows my mind given that the area covers 24 square miles.

 

[davidt33]

As pointed out in the article, the Hakskeen Pan has been cleared of all rocks and stones along the track, by hand.

Yeah but **** happens.

 

[Michelin]

Oh fudgsicles. I was editing that part in - I was creating a bunch of comparisons, as I'd already used Neymar's right arm - and must have saved the draft with two of them smooshed together. Thanks for the spot (although if you could tag me next time, that'll let me know about it quicker).

Edit: Wait, we also used a version of that comparison before. Now I'll have to think up a new one. Maybe Lebron...

Edit: Yes, a Lebron comparo is perfect

Neymar, Stroll and Lebron's comparison... I'm wondering what's gonna be the next comparison

 

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Watch Bloodhound LSR Do 0-334mph in 20 Seconds Onboard in its First Desert Trials

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on October 29th, 2019 in the Car Culture category.

 

[Famine]

Everything about this is insane. The acceleration under full reheat is just stupid for a car that weighs six tons, the yaw correction is ridiculous, the tiny little grooves the wheels cut into the desert floor, the fact that this is a 12-mile long track, ten yards wide and marked out with three white lines...

... and they haven't even fitted the bloody rockets yet.

 

[Leggacy]

I mean...it'd be a testament to what man is capable of. Of course it would be a shame if something did go wrong and result in death, but I believe everything would be done to prevent serious injury in accomplishing the goal, just as I'm sure Andy Green does; I very much doubt he's suicidal.

I’m not sure that there’s much you could do to prevent the death of the driver if something went wrong at 1000mph?

 

[TexRex]

I’m not sure that there’s much you could do to prevent the death of the driver if something went wrong at 1000mph?

But what you can do is make every effort to ensure that nothing so catastrophic does go wrong.

 

[Famine]

I’m not sure that there’s much you could do to prevent the death of the driver if something went wrong at 1000mph?

He has a five-point safety harness.

 

[Leggacy]

He has a five-point safety harness.

Lol.
I watched a video about a pilot that ejected at supersonic speeds. The force of the air hitting him nearly ripped off his arms and legs. Apparently three of his limbs were only held on by the skin and tendons!
They need to invent inertial damping like in Star Trek.