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1000-mph Car Planned

Posted by kdawson on from the zum-zum dept.

Smivs notes a BBC report on a British team planning a 1000-mph record-breaking car. The previous land-speed record broke the sound barrier. The proposed vehicle will get from 0 to 1,050 mph in 40 seconds. "RAF pilot Andy Green made history in 1997 when he drove the Thrust SSC jet-powered vehicle at 763 mph (1,228 km/h). Now he intends to get behind the wheel of a car that is capable of reaching 1,000 mph (1,610 km/h). Known as Bloodhound, the new car will be powered by a rocket bolted to a Typhoon-Eurofighter jet engine. The team-members have been working on the concept for the past 18 months and expect to be ready to make their new record attempt in 2011."

6 of 380 comments (clear)

  1. falling forwards by dnwq · · Score: 3, Interesting

    (1050/40) (mph / second) = 1.19661658 g. Neat. Accelerating just above the rate one falls. No excessive gee forces to worry about, at least.

  2. Re:MPG is an obsolete measurement by ATMD · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I expect my lecturer would disagree with you on that point. I'm an undergraduate at Swansea University, where a lot of the work (such as the aerodynamics) is being done. The computational fluid dynamics code that's being used to allow this thing to go 1000mph was developed here, powers aerospace firms like Airbus, BAE Systems and Rolls Royce, and has been decades in the making.

    Which means that you sir, are trolling.

    --
    Nobody else has this sig.
  3. Re:When does it stop being a car? by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Then they should just run a Eurofighter on a runway trying not to take off... Just as much a "car" as this thing.

    Fighter jet landing gear and tires are not built for 1,000mph. Maybe 300-350 absolute max. Rebuild it to do 1,000mph, and you'll end up with something that looks quite a lot like this thing does.
    One similar speed record 'car' is literally an F-104 body, sans wings.

  4. Re:MPG is an obsolete measurement by hierophanta · · Score: 3, Interesting

    it become obsolete when we stop using gasoline -- gallon of what? in the future we might be seeing measurements like miles per kilowatt

  5. Re:MPG is an obsolete measurement by Shotgun · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Engineers who are paid for what they are doing are encouraged to use established solutions. That's why engineers go home and work on their own projects. Then they get to do something different, just for the sake of doing something differently.

    --
    Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
    Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  6. Re:MPG is an obsolete measurement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Reasonable men adapt to the world around them; unreasonable men make the world adapt to them. The world is changed by unreasonable men.

    -- Edwin Louis Cole