It is Friday 12th September. Yesterday we were looking forward to two runs approaching 600 mph - new territory for SSC - however the weather was very windy and this meant that the runs were eventually cancelled. Ironically, at 4 pm conditions were perfect but by then it was too late. Over the last few days, the wind has been strong and, combined with the fact that constant driving up and down the desert access tracks has loosened the desert surface, this has resulted in several swirling dust storms around the pits area of both teams. Some volunteers from the Spirit of America security team cooked up some delicious Mexican food for us on Tuesday at the SSC pits, but unfortunately the event was affected by one of these storms as visibility was reduced to virtually nil.
Wednesday's three runs were very successful - 517 mph peak speed - and morale is high. Today we had two more superb runs of 550 mph and 624 mph. John and Matt were fortunate to be able to view these runs from the 'press pen' which is located 400 yards from the measured mile. The scoreboard outside the Black Rock bar will look very healthy for us this evening, and it will still be several more days before the SoA team can return from Rio Vista to improve on their score.
The clubbers are successfully securing the desert during the runs. We are working in conjunction with the SoA security team, who have been impressed with our professional approach. A typical day is to rise at 0445, breakfast in Bruno's at 0500, followed by transit to the pits for a briefing at 0615, when we are each allocated access points around the desert for us to patrol. The desert is closed 30 minutes before the first run, and opened 30 minutes after the last run. 10 minutes before the run all vehicle movements must cease (apart from SSC of course!) and any vehicle found to be moving is intercepted by the nearest patrol car. Playing a vital role in this activity are the two Microlights, who act as spotter planes and can be instructed by the desert patrol to intercept any 'bandits'. Needless to say, we are feeling the strain of these long days of hard work (not to mention the socialising in Gerlach in the evening).
Steve Francis and Barbie McSean have announced their engagement. Unfortunately they had to leave yesterday, and we all send our best wishes.
Stan 'staker' Tucker and his brother Clive (pictured right) have been working very hard on the track preparation, much of which was unfortunately destroyed by rainfall on 2nd September. They also left yesterday, after two weeks of intensive effort - many thanks to them for their help. Jack 'trackmaster' Franck co-ordinates the track painting exercise and is easily recognisable by his larger than life personality and his ten gallon hat. Jack is an American but seems to be an Anglophile and has spent the last two years preparing for the visit of Thrust SSC to Black Rock. He appears to have a talent for driving the lining truck in supremely straight lines, and in our second effort since the rain we have lined approximately 90 miles of track (45 miles in one day) out of the total of 260 miles. John Lovatt stands on the back of the lining truck mixing up the gypsum and water in a barrel and depositing it on the track via a pipe and spraying nozzle. The rest of us place barrels on the marker stakes, line up behind the barrels (placed at half mile intervals) and move them out of the way hastily as Jack approaches in the lining truck. We all return to base covered in dust at the end of the day.
Fodding is proceeding well under the supervision of Mike 'fodmaster' Hearn - many shell casings have been found. Unlike Jordan, the FOD is very lightly destributed so the fodders can keep up a fairly brisk pace. This afternoon, two teams of six people covered a total of 20 miles of track (two tracks at a time, 5 miles distance per team).
Recent arrivals on site include Allan Read, Steve O'Donnell, Jim Cavanagh, Rod Barker, Steve Berry, Anthony Edwards and Mike Dempsey. Ron Ayers has scheduled the next two runs as Mach 0.85 and 0.88 (about 650 mph and 675 mph), so weather permitting, we look forward to even more spectacular runs tomorrow…
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