- ThrustSSC
Infobox Automobile
name = ThrustSSC
manufacturer = SSC Programme Ltd
parent_company =
aka =
production =
assembly =
predecessor =Thrust2
successor =
class = Land Speed Record vehicle
body_style =
layout =
platform =
engine = twoRolls-Royce Spey turbofan:-
initially: Rolls-Royce Spey 202
finally: Rolls-Royce Spey 205
transmission =
wheelbase =
length = 16.5 m (54 ft)
width = 3.7 m (12 ft)
height =
weight = 10.5 tonnes
fuel_capacity =
electric_range =
related =
designer =Ron Ayers ,Glynne Bowsher ,Jeremy Bliss Thrust SSC (SuperSonic Car) is a British designed and built jet-propelled car developed by
Richard Noble ,Glynne Bowsher ,Ron Ayers andJeremy Bliss . [ [http://www.thrustssc.com/thrustssc/Team/team.html ThrustSCC team] ]ThrustSSC holds the World
Land Speed Record , set onOctober 15 ,1997 , when it achieved a speed of 1,228 km/h (763 mph) and became the first land vehicle to officially break thesound barrier , not considering the earlier, unsubstantiated claim of theBudweiser Rocket .The car was driven by
Royal Air Force fighter pilotSquadron Leader Andy Green in theBlack Rock Desert inNevada ,United States . It was powered by two afterburningRolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines, as used in BritishF-4 Phantom II jet fighters. It is 16.5 m (54 ft) long, 3.7 m (12 ft) wide and weighs 10.5 tons (10.7 t). The twin engines developed athrust of 223 kN (50,000 lbf) and burned around 4Imperial gallon s per second (18.2 l/s or 4.8US gallon s/s). Transformed into the usual terms for car mileages based on its maximum speed, the fuel consumption was about 5,500 l/100 km or 0.04 mpg U.S.After the record was set, the
World Motor Sport Council released the following message: :"The World Motor Sport Councilhomologated the new world land speed records set by the team ThrustSSC of Richard Noble, driver Andy Green, on 15 October 1997 at Black Rock Desert, Nevada (USA). This is the first time in history that a land vehicle has exceeded thespeed of sound . The new records are as follows:":*"Flying mile 1227.986 km/h (763.035 mph)":*"Flying kilometre 1223.657 km/h (760.343 mph)":"In setting the record, the sound barrier was broken in both the north and south runs."::::"Paris, 11 November 1997."In 1983 Richard Noble had broken the world land speed record with his earlier car
Thrust2 , which reached a speed of 1,018 km/h (633 mph). Both ThrustSSC and Thrust2 are displayed at theCoventry Transport Museum inCoventry ,England .The date of Andy Green's record came exactly a half century and one day after
Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in Earth's atmosphere, with theBell X-1 research rocket plane onOctober 14 ,1947 .Several teams are competing to break the record, for example the
North American Eagle project.Notes
References
*
Richard Noble : "Thrust: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Quest for Speed", Hardcover: Partridge, 1998, ISBN 1-85225-268-5; Paperback: Bantam, 1999, ISBN 0-553-81208-4External links
* [http://www.thrustssc.com/ Official Thrust SSC website] (no longer being updated)
* [http://freespace.virgin.net/john.coppinger/thrustss.htm Photo-Diary] by John Coppinger - including the aerial photo by Richard Meredith-Hardy showing the shockwave as ThrustSSC narrowly exceeds the speed of sound.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKQ-xj5C2m8 Video of Thrust SSC in action]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtszDGW0eKQ Video shot from the air showing Thrust SSC in action]
* [http://www.boris-lux.de/04_types/31_re/97_tss/ts9701.php ThrustSSC] the car and the run
* [http://www.andrewgraves.biz/ssc_stuff/SSC_pics.htm Thrust SSC Photos] Pictures from Blackrock, Nevada -15 October 1997
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.