Today was supposed to be another big day for the project, a day when SSC would take to the desert for the second time in its quest for the Land Speed Record. Things looked ominous as John and Robin headed for the bakers just down the hill from the hotel in Petra to pick up the day’s supply of rolls and bread for delivery to Al Jafr airbase to be prepared for lunch.
The temperature was much colder than we had ever known it since we’d been in Jordan and the wind was whipping great swirls of sand around our heads as we headed for the car in company with Neal before setting out on the road to Ma’an and Jafr. Casting around for gaps in the clouds proved to be a fruitless task although we cheered ourselves with the thought that the desert was an hour away and maybe things would be better there - no such luck!
As we swung off the road from Ma’an and headed down the dead straight road that rumbles through flat terrain into Iraq, things got worse. In the distance, sandstorms of some considerable size billowed their way skywards and at times swept across the road making driving something of an adventure. Given the size of the oil tankers heading towards us every couple of minutes and their sometimes alarming determination to overtake every one of the near identical white Toyota pickup trucks so beloved of the Bedouins, then these were conditions we could do without, especially in a Hyundai rental car. A couple of days before on this very road, the journey home had been slowed by a tanker perched perilously nose first in a ditch, while only yesterday, we’d passed the remains of a burnt out tanker at the bottom of a hill - the M25 should be a doddle after this.
Arriving at the airbase we were pleased and surprised to see Robert back from hospital in Amman where he’d been taken by helicopter after his unfortunate accident with the comms aerial. Swathed in a large bandage looking like a boxing glove, he revealed that the damage to his fingers was not quite as bad as everybody had first feared - it takes more than that to keep determined record breakers away from their task. We also got news that Duncan and Jason had missed their flight back thanks to their car being commandeered at a checkpoint by two army officers who demanded to be taken to Amman. They'd left things tight anyway and the detour to the city centre before going back out to the Airport was just too much. As this is written they may still be trying to get some sleep somewhere while waiting for another flight. Never a dull moment!
The journey out to the Pit Base (or Stonehenge as it is sometimes called because of the way it looks as it looms on the horizon) was slower than usual and clearly we would be very lucky to make any runs today. The team were in full Lawrence of Arabia mode with goggles, scarves and Arab headgear much in evidence, and it was needed since the sansdstorm was now in full flight and showing no sign up giving up, even for the benefit of a handful of Brits far from home who just wanted to run a car.
In anticipation that miracles do sometimes happen, we joined Ron Ayers in one of the Discoverys to check the marker lollipops on either side of the ten miles of track and fill their bases with even more rock collected from a scarp at the end of the track, thus ensuring that they stayed put. Briefly, the sun came out at the Southern end of the track and hopes rose momentarily only to fall again as we headed North and back into the sandstorm.
Behind us, Al Harkness in one of the Land Rovers collected the lollipops that would be placed beside the track giving Andy visual warning of 4, 3 and 2 miles to go before he ran out of track. Since the first run was from North to South and the plan today was to run South to North to take advantage of better run conditions, then they had to be repositioned. The guys from the base had done a sterling job with watering trucks and graders to fill and flatten the Bedouin track that runs at 90% to our tracks. This is an open desert and apart from a short time either side of a run, nothing can be done to stop them if they want to cross. Thankfully, the surface is so hard that the damage is less than it might be elsewhere.
By 2pm things were as bad, if not worse than the morning and so it was agreed that that was it for the day. A planned day off was postponed, so weather permitting, Saturday will see the next run. Again it will be a short period of acceleration followed by a slowing down and then a quick boot up to 300mph - if all goes well. All the data from the first run has been analysed and the minor problem that caused the rear wheels to go slightly out of alignment after hitting the bumpy part of the track on the first run has now been fixed and everything else checked and made ready.
All now depends on the weather and opinions are varied about what will happen. Bob, who has just joined us from Dubai and speaks passable Arabic, picked up a couple of Bedouin hitchhikers who assured him that this was only a temporary situation and that things will be OK soon. A local in Petra assured us that as long as it rained in the night things would get better - if not, it would take a couple of days to settle down.
The truth probably is that nobody knows and we’ll just have to wait and see. More news tomorrow.
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