WTF? 0 to 1050 MPH in 42 seconds?

CA-35

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The race to build the first car to break 1,000 mph took a big step forward today after a successful test firing of the rocket that will power the Bloodhound SSC.

bloodhoundsscnew.jpg


Here's the story:
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/10/03/successful-test-firing-for-1000-mph-car/?intcmp=features
 

walrus

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If that's a "car", what am I driving every day?

walrus
 

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The current low altitude speed record for airplanes was set on 2 Oct 76 by Darryl Greenamyer in an F-104 he built from spare parts. He called the plane the "Red Baron".

The record he set is 988mph although he set a better record of 1010mph which was disallowed when a recording camera broke. The record requires four passes (two in each direction) with no stops. Max altitude allowed was about 150 ft above the ground.

SO... these guys are going to try to break even the low altitude airplane speed record with wheels on the ground! Hard to believe, but it's true.

Now try this thought on for size...

When Greenamyer proposed setting the World Low Altitude Speed Record, Flight Surgeons warned him against it based on this fact: at 1000mph and that low to the ground, his brain couldn't process the visual data his eyes were acquiring fast enough for him to avoid hitting the ground if his descent was too fast during the run. In other words,

he would be already be dead for a few milleseconds before his brain even realized he'd crashed!

Pretty amazing stuff.

Here's a pic of Greenamyer's record setting F-104:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nvMplJyl6r8/T ... r_f104.jpg

After setting the low altitude speed record, Darryl attempted to break the existing altitude record with the same plane. After a practice run, the main landing gear wouldn't come down. He tried everything, but they still wouldn't come down. Since the underbelly of an F-104 has a lot of magnesium content, bellying it in was not an option due to certain fire. SO... he zoom climbed and bailed out. He survived unscathed but Red Baron was destroyed in the crash.

All record attempts were set at Mud Lake in Tonopah, NV (same place the F-117 Stealth Fighter was flown at night as a Top Secret project).

BTW, Darryl Greenamyer has more time logged in excess of Mach 3 than anyone other than the Shuttle Astronauts. He was Chief Test Pilot on the SR-71 Blackbird for Lockheed.

I wish these teams luck and good engineering. They will need both.

Bill
 
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