"What am I going to call today's article?" I said - a rhetorical question really as no-one else seems able to come up with sad titles. Or so I thought.
"Afterburners at dawn," replied Bill Grist, the BBC producer. A small modification and we have another awful title.
It's a rare moment of peace on the desert before the car runs. You're in position, 'nursemaiding' the film crew as usual - possibly the best viewpoint for seeing the car - and even with the continual background banter between Tony (camera) and Rob (sound) it's incredibly relaxing.
The plan for today is simple. Using the unused north ends of tracks 11 and 12, ThrustSSC is to make two runs to the south from Mile 0 - the first using minimum afterburner to an indicated airspeed of 350mph (around 380mph ground speed), the second to 400mph indicated (about 440 actual). All being well, that will then allow a stand-down for a day or two to check out the car before progressing to higher speeds.
At two minutes past seven Adam Northcote-Wright calls: "All stations, SSC is armed". From our position at Mile 0.5 we hear the Palouste start, then the car's twin Speys spool up in sequence. The dust rises behind the car as the exhausts sweep it into the air. At the last minute a Bedouin vehicle is seen heading towards the track and the Badir move to intercept. Firechase moves off at high speed to take up position at the middle of the run, taking care not to raise a dust trail between the cameras and track. More vehicles appear and more Badir go into action. In the Pit Station Adam describes it as "like running the SSC in a multi-storey car park".
Eventually all the vehicles are sorted out and at 16 minutes past the car roars past us on its way to 350mph. Running perfectly straight and, according to driver Andy Green, very stably indeed, it reaches peak speed before the lower of the two 'chutes is deployed. The parachute is unstable and pulls Andy 20 feet to one side. Fortunately the SSC is so stable it takes little effort to put the car back on line. Barely two minutes later Adam calls: "All stations, SSC is stopped." By twenty past, SSC is called safe. The tapes are recovered for review and a time of 0830 is tentatively set for the second run as the car is towed the five miles back to the start.
We make a move - having got a fantastic shot of ThrustSSC at speed, the crew want to move to Mile 1.75 to get a side on view of the car at maximum speed. The Jaguar Firechase charges past heading for the start, lights and siren going. Tony and Rob are still going on about bananas.
A long wait ensues before ThrustSSC runs again. It is after 9 o'clock before the rooster-tail of dust rises again above the mirage. The car leaps out of the reflected sky as the afterburners reach maximum power - with a roar and an immense dust trail she vanishes into the distance, peaking at 392mph indicated air speed (approximately 430mph ground speed). Andy Green notes on the in-car video "This is fast!" in the time it takes to accelerate from 250 to 300mph. He deploys a parachute - instead of firing the upper 'bin' as a planned test, the Design Team have agreed that he should fire the lower again to check its behaviour. It has exactly the same instability as noted on the first run.
Everyone heads back to the Desert Pits and the air-conditioned cool of the Pit Station. The Design Team debrief on the second run and review the videos. Some dust is getting into the cockpit, so bodywork expert Mike Horne will take a look at curing that problem. The parachute instability is discussed and options from changing strop lengths to cutting ribbons to reduce efficiency slightly are discussed before the latter is settled on. Engines are giving a first-rate performance; precautions against the heat are helping the computers; teamwork is very slick - everyone is pleased with progress.
Finally everyone gathers in the Aireshelta for a team debrief. Clearance has been given for the next two speed increments to 450 and 500 indicated mph on Monday. The team will service the car tomorrow - next runs on Monday. In the meantime, ThrustSSC has pushed forward it's mark as the world's fastest rear-wheel-steered car.
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