Hello again, and welcome to the first of the special Project Bulletins that we will be issuing alongside Mach 1 News from now on. The next issue of Mach 1 News is being put together right now and will again be supported by one of our major sponsors. These Project Bulletins will be shorter but packed with as much up-to-date information as we can provide. I hope you enjoy them .
MEET THE DRIVER OF THRUST SSC AS THE ANNOUNCEMENT IS MADE TO THE PRESS, SPONSORS & CLUB
By now, many of you will have read articles in national newspapers and the motoring press about the various stages of the driver selection process. The latest element of the programme was sponsored by Volkswagen Audi Group, who not only provided the works rally cars and ace rally driver Russell Brookes, but also arranged for the use of the Chris Birbeck Rally School. Why Rally driving? Well, all will be revealed in the next issue of Mach 1 News. Trying working it out yourself before then.
With the original list of 30 applicants reduced to just four after the driving tests, the final selection takes place during January, with the name of the lucky driver made public on Thursday 2 February. One of the major features in the next issue of Mach 1 News will be the whole background and structure of the process. The full story should make fascinating reading.
But don't just read about it!
Come along and meet the driver, Richard Noble, the sponsors and team as the announcement is made How could you miss it? The date is:
Thursday 2 February at 7pm.
The location is the museum at the historic Brooklands racetrack in Surrey, itself the setting for three early land speed records. A large section of the famous concrete banking is still intact, along with the newly refurbished tuning sheds and pits area. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend a major event in the project's progress, so we urge you to come along and make it a real occasion. Why Thursday evening? Well, because as with every other stage of the project, the BBC Tomorrow's World team will be filming at Brooklands for broadcast the following evening. Admit it, you've always wanted to be on television!
There is limited space available, so to avoid disappointment, please return the booking form included with this Bulletin straight away. Tickets are £10 each, but in order to cater for all the younger club members and those who rely on others for transport, this ticket provides admission for one Mach 1 Club member and one guest. I'm afraid there are no reductions if you come alone and allocation will be on a first-come-first-served basis. If you do bring a guest, why not persuade them to become a Mach 1 Club member? We'll have facilities for signing-up new members on the day. A booking form to fill in and return is included. We look forward to seeing you all there.
Let's make it a great evening!!!
Under the guidance of James Morton, the superbly professional team down at G-Force near Bognor Regis are pushing ahead exactly on schedule. The major structure of the T-45 tubing chassis is now complete, as are the outriggers to locate the two Roll-Royce Spey engines and the various mounting points. As always with projects of this scale, there have been one or two minor problems, but any lost time has been quickly recovered. As an example, there were some problems with the specially fabricated lower engine mounts designed by Glynne Bowsher, so new ones had to be made. When working to such tight project deadlines, this delay could have had a knock-on effect on the rest of the programme, but the quality and strength of any team is measured in adversity and G Force quickly recovered the situation. Real professionals! With the main chassis complete and these problems dealt with, trial engine fitting is underway using a scrap Spey. By the time you read this, at least one real engine should be in place and the whole thing will look like a land speed record car for the first time. Now that there is a 'car' to see rather than a collection of steel tubes, we will shortly be in touch with all those of you who wrote asking for a visit to G Force. In order to minimise impact on the build programme the visits will be limited to 2 hours each and will take place on weekends, which should suit most people anyway. Stand by to be impressed when you do see the car for the first time. Knowing that it's fifty-four feet long is one thing - actually seeing it is something else again.
Sorry, but if you haven't already requested a visit, then it may not be possible to fit you in. We'll give you as much notice as we can, so that you can see the car at Airshows in the UK before leaving for Black Rock.
Further engine tests have taken place on the second of the Spey 202s to be used in initial trials of Thrust SSC. As you can imagine, it is vitally important that the engines are as closely matched as possible in order to minimise problems associated with unequal thrust right through the speed range. Complex systems have already been designed to ensure that when the driver opens or closes the throttle, both engines respond in unison, but getting carefully matched engines minimises the problem to start with. Under the guidance of Flight Lieutenant Ian Currie and his team at the Proof & Experimental Establishment at Shoeburyness, full power running of the second Spey took place exactly according to plan with all the noise and drama that you would expect from a 22,000lb thrust engine. Thrust SSC engine man John Rowles pronounced himself delighted with the results once they had been checked and compared to those of the first Spey. The super-special Spey 205s await their turn in the Spring.
As part of our campaign to bring the Thrust SSC programme to the widest possible audience, the team has been boosted by the addition of Mike Hearn, an ex-Thrust 2 team member, who is putting together and taking bookings for a Thrust SSC Roadshow. As well as presenting as much as possible about the overall project, it will also explain something of the background and context of record-breaking. Should be fascinating stuff. The plans call for a combination of videos, films, static displays, presentations and question and answer sessions. Each event will last about two hours, most probably on Friday evenings, and will be headed up by at least one key team member - for instance, Ron Ayers, Glynne Bowsher, the Thrust SSC driver or Richard Noble himself. The events will also be used to recruit new Mach 1 Club members, while a wide range of merchandise will also be on sale.You can help by writing to us with suggestions for bookings in your area, although we obviously can't guarantee to respond to everything. In order to make this a viable proposition, there will be a ticket charge and each roadshow should cater for at least one hundred people. So, if your company, professional body or other organisation would like to take advantage of this opportunity drop a note to us at the usual address, but clearly marked for the attention of Mike Hearn, SSC Roadshow.
Completion date for construction is still scheduled for June/July 1995 and, as promised, we will be making bookings to run at Airshows in order to test out systems and show the car to the world. Also as promised, we will invite all Gold Card members to a test run. I'm sorry that we can't give exact dates just yet, but once they are firm we will let you know. Obviously, any runs will be subject to the weather and technical conditions. Even we can't make the sun shine!!
Well done to all those junior members who submitted entries for the 'design an LSR car competition' They have all been passed on to Thrust SSC designer Ron Ayers, who is checking them out right now to choose the winners. This will be no easy task, but we promise to announce the results in the next issue of Mach 1 News. The standard is high, so Ron is going to have a difficult job.
Depending on who you listen to, there are either five or six serious projects around the world determined to take the land speed record away from Richard Noble. Every one of them has at some time or other been reported as taking aim at the Sound Barrier, but in reality, there are probably only two serious challengers to Thrust SSC in that respect. Don't discount the others though, they all have high sub-sonic potential. Here's a brief update on each of them.
One year ago, McLaren boss Ron Dennis showed a full-size mock-up to the press. Power is courtesy of an ex-Tornado RB199 engine. Since then, the shutters have come down at McLaren and getting hold of any information has been very difficult. We do know that the Thrust SSC announcement took them completely by surprise and that the LSR research department has now been disbanded. Don't take that as an indication of surrender - McLaren don't do that sort of thing. We understand that work is still continuing, albeit at a slightly reduced pace, but it wouldn't surprise us at all to wake up one morning to find that they have been testing a completed vehicle in secret. A serious threat.
The person most likely to return the record to the USA. Based in California, his team are well advanced with a car very similar in layout to the McLaren Maverick. A long, slim body with the driver right up front has closely coupled front wheels and outrigged wheels at the rear. Power comes from the ubiquitous J-79. The partially completed car is being shown to the public at US shows, while Craig has secured backing from the Chevrolet Division of General Motors. Should be ready to run at about the same time as Thrust SSC and like McLaren is a serious threat.
Veteran Art Arfons has been around the record-breaking scene since the mid-fifties and staged a series of epic battles with Craig Breedlove in 1965 that saw the record pushed up from 400mph to 600mph in a matter of months. Unable to resist the lure of record-breaking, he came out of retirement a couple of years ago with a radical, lightweight streamliner powered by the superlight GE-J85 jet engine. Although the car runs well up to about 400mph, Art has had handling problems that have precluded higher speeds. A self financed effort, he relies on the availability of expensive timing facilities at annual Bonneville speedmeets. Poor salt conditions and cancelled meetings in recent years have left him with nowhere to run.
J-79 powered device following roughly the same layout as Breedlove although the finished article looks brutal rather than sleek. A trial run in the USA resulted in minor damage. Rumoured to be on its way to Europe as part of its sponsorship campaign. All three major partners - Gary Swenson, Rick Kikes, Les Shockley - have extensive jet drag racing experience which cannot be discounted, but it is unlikely to be a true supersonic challenger. Time will tell.
Miller announced his re-entry into the land speed record race early in 1994 when he unveiled a mixed power unit jet/rocket dragster. His intention is to use this car as a research vehicle for the mixed powerplants theory and raise publicity for his ultimate car. Already has a Ky Michaelson designed chassis in the garage from a few years ago, so he could be ready quickly.
Using a car that very closely resembles Thrust 2, the charging Australian Rosco McGlashan has been running on Lake Gairdner in Western Australia for two years, and before rain called a halt to proceedings last year was knocking on the door of 600mph. Although less powerful than Thrust 2, the benefits of a smaller frontal area and less frictional drag because of the hard salt could enable him to beat the existing record. If anybody on the scene right now deserves success, it's Rosco. Although the press talk of supersonic speeds, the reality is that this is a sub-sonic design.
While we do our best to give you as much information as possible, it's always difficult to know if we've missed anything significant that you're bursting to know. If you do have a question and we haven't covered it, then write and let us know and we'll include everything in a special Q&A section in the next Bulletin. Everything from the Thrust 2 and Thrust SSC projects through to general questions about past LSR attempts can be dealt with, so don't be shy about asking. Write to the usual address but please make sure that your envelope or card is clearly marked: Q&A Session.
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