After reaching 517mph on Wednesday, yesterday was to see the SSC in action again - with speeds of 570mph and 610mph planned. It dawned very windy, however - and the forecast was not particularly good. While it is felt that the car could manage fine in the wind speeds being measured, the team have imposed an upper limit of 15mph as a safety precaution. Apart from that, there is the team and the rest of the equipment to be considered - a dust storm would do neither any good. Running was postponed.
By lunchtime it was apparent that the winds were not going to die off and running was called off until today. The lack of action didn't harm the Web Site, though - a new peak of 266,000 accesses saw the 7-day total hit 1 million for the first time. The Internet Team's first target had been achieved, and there was some celebrating to be done. It would be quite an occasion - the Spirit of America caterers had offered to cook the entire ThrustSSC team a barbeque dinner at the Black Rock Saloon.
In the afternoon we had great fun when some of the SoA team brought their motorised bar stools and miniature stagecoach along to show us. For an hour everyone was buzzing around the pits, or trying out the land-yachts that had also appeared... Craig Breedlove called in later on - bringing some people from his sponsor Shell with him. He took another close look at the car, discussing his engine problem with our engine experts Chris Cowell and Steve Wiltshire. Andy Green showed him round ThrustSSC's cockpit - a somewhat larger and more complex arrangement than he is used to.
Everyone met up at 8 in the Black Rock. Tim Tallent of our sponsors Tallent Packaging arrived on his beautiful Harley-Davidson, with a local '69 Mercury muscle-car shortly after. It was too much for them to resist - the bar emptied as engines were revved wildly. The local police officer arrived, but didn't bat an eyelid - he knew who it would be making such a noise before he even got there...
The morning dawned cold, bright - and still. At 0500hrs the sign outside the Black Rock Saloon still read 328/517mph - that would change. As we drove out the local radio was reporting on the delay caused by yesterday's high winds. The same run profiles were planned for today, with indicated air speeds of 530mph and 570mph. At 0725 the car was towed out of the large Aireshelta by one of the Supacats - it would be a short tow this morning, with Run 44 scheduled to start at Mile 1, barely a mile from the Desert Pits.
By 0730 the various team vehicles were en route, with an estimated start time of 0800hrs. Merlo veered off course onto the tracks - a quick call from "Telemetry" putting him back on course for Mile 7. (Must remember to wash the windscreen next time it goes out into a low sun.) By 0757 the SSC was on the air, temperature and pressure as normal.
It wouldn't be a run day without a problem with one of the Paloustes. Both were starting fine today, but the Recovery Team found that their air-starter had a flat tyre when they got to Mile 12. It turned out that a loose wheel-nut had caused the wheel to shimmy. A replacement wheel was quickly despatched from the Pit Station.
At 0809 Jayne called "5 minutes to run", and shortly after the familiar rooster tail of dust rose at the south end of the desert. As he approached the measured mile Andy eased off, allowing his speed to level of. Through the measured mile he varied the throttle between maximum military power and minimum afterburner, trying to keep the speed reasonably constant. Despite the destabilising effect that that had, ThrustSSC never varied more than 10 feet from the white line - a fantastic testament to the inherent stability of the design. Once clear of the mile he throttled right back before deploying his parachute and braking to a stand. The 'chute flew well - the modifications during and since Jordan had made it much more stable.
Andy called stopped. Then shortly after he requested the assistance of "Telemetry" at the first opportunity - was there a problem we wondered? "Safe" was called and systems expert Jerry Bliss joined# Andy at the car. One of the two onboard computers - 'Comp 1' - had tripped out in the measured mile - Jerry set to work to resolve it, diagnosing a minor software problem.
Merlo moved to its next position at Mile 6 - right between the two points was the Press pen. A stop was called for - Matt the cameraman had left his cigarettes behind, could anyone spare him one?
For the next half-hour the radio crackled intermittently - until just before 9 o'clock when Aerodynamicist Ron Ayers advised Pit Station that subject to confirmation by Jerry, the intended peak speed had been achieved, and Run 45 would take place in some 40 minutes.
Jerry continued to work the software problem. At 0940 a Cessna landed on the desert at Mile 11 and taxied towards the car - despite the desert being closed. A second aircraft was also spotted coming in. The aircraft were dealt with and Chris Cowell on Team 1 at the start reported "approximately ten minutes to run". Jayne relayed the message to all stations.
At a minute to ten the "5 minutes to run" call was made. Run Controller Jayne Millington checked everyone was in position and ready. Firechase left the start at high speed to take up station opposite the Merlo at Mile 6, raising its own small rooster tail of dust above the haze as it did so. Finally, at 1006hrs, the radio reported: "All stations, SSC ready to roll".
A minute later the car was rolling - reaching a peak speed of 575mph indicated air speed it screamed past. With a tail wind that gave 624mph groundspeed. Firechase called "SSC, 5 miles to go" as it vanished into the haze once again. 'Comp 1' had failed once more, but Andy was unperturbed as he released the 'chute at Mile 4.5 and braked to a stand.
With "safe" called the various team members around the desert converged on the Desert Pits. Richard Noble with the Media in the Press Area escorted them onto the racetracks to inspect the marks left by the SSC. Another half-hour and the desert was be opened again for the spectators to come to the base to see the car and buy the merchandise - it was a long queue.
Back at the Pit Station the data was analysed and the peak speed announced. In the debrief the team was ecstatic - ThrustSSC was now up to record speeds and raring to go. Andy described the runs in detail, pointing that the profiles are currently very difficult to drive because the power required to hold these speeds lies in the region between maximum dry power and minimum afterburner. At higher speeds there will be no such problem. A press conference was held in front of the Pit Station before everyone headed back to their jobs - there is always plenty of work to be done.
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