What’s planned to be the first 1,000 mph car has come a step closer with the fitting of the tailfin that will keep it on a straight line. Bloodhound is now scheduled for its first public run in November.
As we’ve previously covered, the British based Bloodhound project has been in the works since 2008. It incorporates three engines: a hybrid rocket, an adapted Formula One racing car engine, and an adapted Eurofighter-Typhoon plane.
The plan is for driver Andy Green to reach 1,050 miles per hour. Green already holds the world speed record at 763 mph, the first and only time a car has broken the sound barrier. The record attempt will take place in a South African desert on a 19km track which has been cleared by hand by 300 locals.
The latest milestone in the project is the fitting of the tailfin, which Green likens to the feathers on a dart. He notes that there’s virtually no wheel grip when driving, so the tailfin will be vital for stopping the car veering perilously off course.
The tailfin is made of 139 aluminium sections, with an internal skeleton and a curved casing. Engineers involved in its production have talked about the difficulty of producing a component that is a true one-off.
While the tailfin will mainly sport a design of the United Kingdom flag, it will also bear the names of individuals and organizations who donated to an Indiegogo campaign that raised £86,702 (approx US$135,000.)
Staff on the project have also unveiled more details on the timescale for the remainder of the project. It’ll be publicly unveiled in operational form for the first time in November when it will be tested at 200 mph at the Newquay Aerohub in the UK.
The car will then get its final parts added in the shape of airbrakes and winglets and then taken to South Africa for high-speed testing next summer. The results of that testing will determine the date for the record attempt, which will come via two runs. The first will be designed solely to beat the current 763mph, with the second being an all-out attempt at the 1,000mph mark.