BTR is sponsoring Richard Noble and ThrustSSC in its bid to smash the world land speed record and become the first car to break the sound barrier.
Powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey 205 jet engines - each capable of a thrust of up to 10 tons (100,000 horsepower) - ThrustSSC should be capable of achieving speeds in excess of 850 mph or 1.15 times the speed of sound.
BTR companies Dunlop Aviation and Hawker Batteries are also supporting the project. Dunlop Aviation is providing the brakes and wheels. Hawker is supplying the batteries for the engine-start and onboard systems.
As rubber tyres would disintegrate well below the target speed of 850 mph, ThrustSSC is fitted with 4 tyreless solid aluminium wheels. The 1 metre diameter, 110kg wheels have been machined by Dunlop Aviation to a section designed to minimise radial stresses - which at 850 mph will be 35,000g.
The braking system, supplied by Dunlop Aviation, has to be able to hold the car against the thrust of the jet engines during power build up and to stop it from speeds as high as 170 mph if the parachutes fail. The system employs 24mm thick, 40cm diameter carbon discs mounted in two sets of horizontally opposed calipers.
The power for the engine start and for on-board systems are provided by 5 pure lead aircraft batteries provided by Hawker Energy Products. The high performance batteries are used in civil and military aircraft and are sealed for low maintenance.
The current land speed record of 633.47 mph was established in 1983 by Richard Noble in Thrust 2, a four ton car powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon jet engine.
In recent preliminary trails in the Al Jafr Desert in Jordan, ThrustSSC - and its driver Andy Green a Royal Airforce Squadron Leader - achieved a speeds of up to 331 mph. The team is going to Jordan for further trials in May. Their target is to reach over 600 mph with good reliability. Should they be successful, they then go to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA for the attempt on the sound barrier in August.
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