Trying to break the land speed record. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002198618_landspeed06.html
Um, just out of curiosity - if they need to get that thing from, let's say, Washington state to Nevada, how do they get it there...? A big, wide-load truck...? Do they put it on a cargo plane...? That's some seriously funny irony - transporting a plane...
Whats the point? It's just wings away from flying so mind as well fly while you're at 760mph right? I never do get those landspeed record cars; anyone can break a landspeed by attaching a jet engine to a car and putting a human in a tiny safety capsule. BTW, it kind of looks like an SR-71, well, the engine atleast.
They can truck it. It's only 7.5 feet wide. Max allowed standard load is 8 feet if I am not mistaken. They show a picture of it being loaded into a semi-trailer.
thrust powered cars never did much for me. you just need enough money to buy a big enough engine to push a small car. I'm not putting these guys down, there re still a lot of hurdles to overcome, it's just not that interesting to me. I've always wanted to try for a wheel-driven record, IMO, that's a lot harder technically.
Not really or people would be doing it all of the time. It's not just breaking a landspeed record that is the problem, it's breaking the speed of sound ON LAND. Huge powerful shock waves form around the car when approaching and passing the speed of sound. It takes massive amounts of down force to keep the car tracking straight and down on the ground where it belongs. Try to catch the 1997 success (the ONLY sucess) by the British on TLC or the History channel. They explain much better than I the challenges of breaking the sound barrier on the ground. Craig Breedlove couldn't do it after repeated attempts. The fuselage appears to be that of an F104 Starfighter. Basically a guided missile with very small wings
Going very fast isn't easy. Ever been to the salt flats? I have. Only went 160, but it was a major rush on a 2 wheeler. The guys going over 300 mph say that they get major tunnel vision, I can just imagine what 700+ looks like. Absolutely no room for error. Art
Not to mention that even the slightest vibration trashes your focus. Everything turns to a blurr. I can't imagine that at 700 MPH.
After looking at the pictures closely it looks like the front wheel is too small for the speed that thing is going to go. Looking at Breedlove's and the British machine (forget the name) the wheel diameter was closer to 30 or 36 inches and they did not run on pneumatic tires! Actually Breedlove's had a front wheel closer to 48". Small diameter=high axle speed=fried bearings
Performance Data - .pdf file showing estimated acceleration data on the F-104. Length - 56 feet Weight - 13,000 lbs. Engine - General Electric LM - 1500 Turbojet supplied by S&S Turbines, Ltd., Fort St. John, BC. Thrust - Stock Engine for low speed testing: 42,500 hp - Specially Enhanced Engine for record runs: 52,000 hp Fuel Consumption - Stock engine Idle = 40 gallons / minute 100 % = 80 gallons / minute Full AB = 160 gallons / minute Chassis - F-104A-10 Starfighter with North American Eagle design suspension and systems integration. Fuselage Design - Kelly Johnson, Lockheed Skunkworks, serial number 56-0763. System Integration Design - Ed Shadle, Keith Zanghi, Steve Wallace Wheels - Solid Billet Aluminum, manufactured by Eagle Machine & Steve Green Hydraulic Systems: Bob Beisler, Spokane Community College and Hyraulic Repair and Design Parachute Systems: Drumheller Engineering
