Summer has almost gone and we are still at Farnborough - but there is a great feeling of achievement now because we all know that the 24 month build is at an end. I am typing this on my laptop at the Museum of British Road Transport in Coventry, sitting just opposite Thrust 2 waiting to go on for a BBC Breakfastime feature. Thrust 2 had a very painful creation too, but I guess with hindsight you tend to forget the crises, failures and the ever present nailbiting tension. If all goes well this season, today will be the last time I sit in Thrust2 as the World Land Speed Record holder - in two months it should be Andy's title. It mustn't be Craig Breedlove's!
August is the month I have come to dread with these projects. Because of holidays, sponsors directors tend to slow down in July to the point when they become stationary and totally uncontactable in August. Each month we have to pull in at least one major deal and in August 95 we nearly lost the project because of this August Factor. We had decided to expand the project substantially against a falling cashflow; it was absolutely the right thing to do, but is not the sort of policy you'll find being carried out by an executive with long term pension plans. John, the NatWest bank manager, saved us then. But this Summer, our problems were very different. The objectives were daunting - get the engines running in ThrustSSC at Boscombe Down - get the Tiltec transportation trailer complete - finish the Pit Station truck - somehow find 240,000 litres of fuel for the Antonov - somehow find the funding to start developing the Spey 205 engines on the test bed at Pyestock - somehow get the ThrustSSC onto the runway for slow speed runs - oh and together put in around 2,700 man hours on completing the build. And each month we start with a clean sheet of paper - if there isn't a near debt situation and a panic stricken bank manager at the start of each month, you just aren't trying hard enough!
Of course, it seldom works out as planned - but there is a major change and ThrustSSC is coming alive-part by part. It's becoming operational and we are beginning to learn just what we have built - and what we have to live with! The Antonov fuel crisis was eventually resolved by Royal Jordanian Airlines, who have very kindly agreed to fund the fuel bill. This is a huge boost- because it now means that we actually can be sure of getting to Jafr! The deal was put together by Andrew Noble and Mr Munib Toukan who later explained that story behind the fascinating Royal Jordanian Airlines aircraft livery - almost certainly one of the smartest and most original of any airline. The idea was exactly that- they wanted the smartest and Mr Toukan decided that the design should be based on the smartest of male clothing - a dark blue/black blazer worn over light colour trousers. Having come up with such a simple and ingenious idea, they handed the concept to Landor for the final touches. And as you will know, the Royal Jordanian livery stands out in grand style.
We moved ThrustSSC to Boscombe for initial engine tie down tests using the huge Tiltec trailer which has been built by Jim and Matthew Cramp. This connects to one of Brian Palmer's Scania 440 tractor units but requires police permission to travel on the UK roads as it's not so much a wide load- it's much more like a beached aircraft carrier.
Once back at DRA Farnborough, we needed to run ThrustSSC on the runway, preferably before the Farnborough Airshow absorbed all the runway time. The Bank holiday weekend of the 24th,25th and 26th of August seemed to be the best time. If we could achieve three days of runs and ThrustSSC was reliable, then we could reach 200 mph and consider the low speed testing complete. But it wasn't to be. We lost Saturday, as we were late with completion of preparations, Sunday looked promising but then we hit a hydraulic snag which left us with only 1000psi in the system and no brakes. Looking more dead than alive and surviving on Chinese takeaways Jerry Bliss and his team nailed the hydraulics problem that night - or so they thought! Robin Richardson's article in this issue captures the events of the day and from that you will see that dedication and sheer hard work against all the odds is what it's all about.
To get to Jordan, we had to complete the high power static tests at Boscombe, using Mike Horne's intake bellmouth. Then we had to complete a series of test runs at Farnborough to 200 mph, hold a press day to show everyone what's going on - and then and only then we can call in the Antonov and go to Al Jafr. So now you have the true flavour of record breaking - so near and yet so far - five steps forward and three back - and all the time a backbreaking schedule which depends on a huge personal commitment from every family. It's very tough on everyone and from time to time you do find yourself questioning your sanity - but not for long! There's a World First achievable here and it just needs a few more months of rigorous personal discipline and absolute commitment.
And of course there's yet another side to this- how long can we keep this going forward-how long can we keep the money flowing in at sufficient pace to carry out all this work under extreme pressure. Well the response is demonstrated by the Internet- since Microsoft's additional sponsorship for the Digital supported Website and Artewisdom's excellent graphic design changes - the site accesses have risen to 146,000 per week and we have passed the 2.1million mark. Suddenly it is becoming clear to sponsors that a huge number of people are very genuinely interested in what's going on - and that those site accesses are not involuntary or random acts - the story is building.
It is going to be interesting to see how Craig Breedlove fares- he has announced he is into a Bonneville Record attempt and is even fixing visitors travel. At least we have a proper high grip runway for our first development runs- not that terrible combination of new car, solid wheels and slippery salt. I keep reminding everyone who will listen that ours is a 60,000 man hour project which started 2 years after Breedlove began his build. The two projects are now just weeks apart. The Thrust2 record probably has just a few more weeks left - Breedlove says he's going to win. I think he'd better keep his money in his wallet - he's going to need every dollar he can lay his hands on!
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