Work in Jordan continues apace - during the day three streams of work are underway: preparation of the car for desert testing, preparation of the desert tracks, and all the various support tasks which are necessary for safe operation of ThrustSSC. In the evenings, the team variously continue their exercise routines, watch videos, read books, or gather to sing tunelessly to the accompaniment of Rob Hemper and Chris Horne on guitar and mouth-organ.
The high-speed wheels have now been fitted to ThrustSSC - unlike the Lightning fighter-tyred low-speed wheels which were used on the runway at Farnborough and in transportation of the car to Jordan, these have no rubber tyre at all. The rotational speed of up to 8,500 rpm is such that only solid forged-aluminium wheels will take the enormous forces involved, so Mechanical Designer Glynne Bowsher designed ThrustSSC to take both types of wheel to enable both UK and desert running of the car.
Last Monday’s tie-down test at Al Jafr revealed a problem with the Non-Return Valves on the car - in the event of the one fuel pump failing these prevent the second pump simply transferring fuel from one tank to the other. New NRVs and machined fittings to mount them are being manufactured and sent from the UK.
In the ThrustSSC hangar, Jayne Millington, John Price and Robert Atkinson are busily setting up radios and aerials - programming in frequencies and testing communications between desert, hangar and houses. Jeremy Davey continues to work on the Internet site as well as looking after the satellite dish and sorting out computers. In the houses the two most popular team members, Ninetta Hearn and Dee Campbell-Coombe, are busily preparing three meals a day for the entire team. Somehow they all find time among all this to join the ‘Fod Plod’ too.
Fodding is the process of clearing the desert tracks of debris and stones that might damage the car. As Richard Noble notes in his latest update, this is a back-breaking, tiring, and often disheartening task. The ThrustSSC Team are certainly not scared of hard work, but they will not allow it to lower their spirits! The ongoing game of Trivial Pursuits (unscored) has included questions ranging from the original members of Pink Floyd (how many times have you asked that now, Leigh?) to the holder of the three-wheeled car record from Lands End to John O’Groats! (Answers on a postcard please.)
Most of the track is almost devoid of debris and stones and can be quickly cleared - the current record stands at twelve track miles in one day. From time to time the fodders come across a field of stones at which point there is no option but to sit down with a bag and screwdriver and pick them all up, prising out the difficult ones. If it was a punishment, it would be banned. One quickly becomes acquainted with how the desert changes from mile to mile - some parts are dusty and comparatively soft - others are rock hard and even make using a screwdriver difficult. Where Bedouin tracks cross the desert the stones seem more prevalent - probably brought to the surface by the vibration when the desert is damp and soft.
Contrary to the previous report on Jordan, we are now finding that life does indeed exist on the vast dried lake-bed that forms the Jafr Desert. Apart from the ubiquitous roaming camels, to date the team have found birds, butterflies, beetles and dragonflies. The temperatures have been high for the last two days - approaching 100° with little wind: everyone is rapidly turning either brown or red.
The Bedouins continue to visit us at work: on Thursday a white Toyota Corolla approached and stopped. The two occupants brought over the most exquisitely decorated small glasses and a tall, polished coffee-pot with a long, curving spout. Each team member in turn was treated to a most welcome and refreshing drink. On Friday a passing truck pulled up and its driver picked up a few stones for us before offering everyone cigarettes and departing. Regrettably Pete Ross was the only smoker present.
The track clearance operation has not just been the work of the ThrustSSC Team, however. Our excellent hosts, the Royal Jordanian Air Force have also helped - on Wednesday the Al Jafr base commander, General Mamoun, and 30 volunteers and conscripts tackled the worst of the stone fields, quickly filling the back of a long-wheelbase Land Rover!
Relations with the Jordanians really could not be better - they are an incredibly hospitable people and are fantastically interested in ThrustSSC. Stories of their friendliness are quite simply legion - as another small example, yesterday I went in search of the camp shop and got lost. I asked some off-duty personnel for directions - not only did I get put on the right track, but I was invited into their barracks and entertained for half-an-hour over a cup of the tasty local tea. Tremendous.
I had asked for directions in English, and many of the base personnel speak our language well (our liaison officer, Major Nawrez, even has a Geordie accent), but there is one language which is truly universal - sport. The first Thrust vs. Jordan football match took place earlier in the week - the Jordanians are excellent players and the score is too embarrassing to relate! Last night (Saturday) it was volleyball, and once again it looked like being a disaster for the British. Excellent sportsmen in every way, the Jordanians quickly changed the rules to accommodate this and with three locals and three visitors on each side, we had a series of close fought games! They want a rematch tonight…
These are no isolated incidents - one needs to drive here with one hand on the steering-wheel in order to return all the waves. Of one thing there can be no doubt - that the people of the two nations are united in a common goal: to set a new World Land Speed Record on the Jafr Desert.
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