Hello again and welcome to the second Thrust SSC Project Bulletin. The period leading up to mid-February was taken up with the final stages of the driver selection process, with the identity of the person chosen to make history announced on television at Brooklands. For those of you that couldn't come along, this bulletin should help to fill in the details.
ANDY GREEN CHOSEN TO DRIVE THRUST SSC AND SET THE WORLD'S FIRST SUPERSONIC LAND SPEED RECORD
For those who haven't already heard the news, I'm delighted to tell you that Flight Lieutenant Andy Green will be the driver of Richard Noble's supersonic car, Thrust SSC when it begins its assault on the Sound Barrier later this year.
In front of an audience of three hundred people at the historic Brooklands race track in Surrey, the TV cameras and world's press were treated to an evening's entertainment of films and presentations by team members before Roger Green of the DRA at Farnborough made the announcement. The team were particularly delighted that over one hundred and fifty Mach 1 Club members were part of the audience.
So now we know who the driver is, but what do we know about him, and why was he chosen.? Well, Andy is a serving RAF fighter pilot who flies Tornado F3's from his base at Leeming in Yorkshire. Postings to major areas of British interest in Europe and beyond, means that he gets plenty of opportunity to hone his skills with the Tornado. At Brooklands, Andy was accompanied by his partner Jane, who is also in the RAF. In fact, Jane revealed with a wry grin, that her work at Whitehall affords her the rank of squadron leader, which means that she outranks Andy.
Apart from a common employer, they also share a common interest outside work, since both have succumbed to the pleasures of the Cresta run. In fact, Andy competes as part of the RAF toboggan team. Just to make all you couch potatoes feel even worse, he also runs highly competitive marathons, skis, motor-cycles, rides horses and does the odd spot of bungee-jumping. Part of the criteria for being chosen to drive Thrust SSC was excellent physical fitness, and as you will gather from the above, he has no problems at all in that respect.
But driving a car at supersonic speeds is not just about being physically capable. As Roger Green explained at Brooklands, the driver must first and foremost be extremely bright, able to assess situations quickly and take the necessary actions, be willing to work to an organised set of procedures, and be sensitive enough to report back accurately to the team about exactly what happened on each run. In fact, exactly the capabilities that a first-rate test-pilot would exhibit when trying out a new aircraft. And that's exactly the analogy that designer Ron Ayers uses when asked what the plans are for getting up to record speeds with Thrust SSC. As Ron puts it, 'before it gets to be record vehicle, first of all it must be a test vehicle in order to prove the viability of the design'.
Working as part of the team was the final hurdle for those that made it through the months of selection procedures that led up to Brooklands. Each of the final four was asked to visit the build team at G-Force to work on the layout of the cockpit and its controls, and then to produce a written report detailing the results, as well as their view of the progress made on the programme so far. In turn, member of the team was then asked to given an assessment of the candidates. This ability to work comfortably and confidently with the team is vital, and in truth, any one of the last four or five candidates could have got the job done, but there has to be only one driver, and the team are delighted with the outcome.
Immediately after the announcement was made, Andy was swamped with reporters and club members, and if you met him you will have been impressed with his quiet confidence and the professional manner with which he handled the media. Definitely a man with 'the right stuff'.
Now that another key element of the programme has been completed, all the attention can be turned towards making sure that Andy has a completed car ready to drive when the Thrust team hits the Black Rock Desert, Nevada on 1 September this year.
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