Both the ThrustSSC and Spirit of America teams planned to make more runs today with the SoA team out at 08:00 for two high speed runs to confirm that their downforce problems have been solved. A first run from South to North netted a speed of about 360mph and after a one hour turnaround, Craig came back southwards, this time reaching about 380mph and experiencing a rough ride at some points. They believe this was caused by dust packed into the three fronts wheels. Engine RPMs were down due to a fuel problem which means that SoA needs more fuel that the pumps can deliver. Further modifications are being made today for possible runs tomorrow.
An 08:00 engineering start for the Thrust team pinpointed the hydraulic problem to a failed T-joint which takes fluid to a checkpoint midway along the length of the car from the tanks in the nose. Since the checkpoint is not now needed it was replaced with an elbow joint and the system recharged and bled once more ready for a run at 16:00. A run profile of Mach 0.85 was planned still using the software without the abort system. The return run was planned using the revised software designed for higher Mach numbers in order to prove whether the computer problem was hardware or software related. After panelling up and getting ready to roll out at 16:20 a further minor hydraulic problem was experienced which caused all runs to be cancelled for the day due to the time needed to remove panels and gain access to the tanks. Work continues tonight for repeats of today's postponed runs.
Yet again, the world's press turned up in large numbers with SKY News broadcasting live to Europe, Africa and Australia. Internet accesses are now running at 2.45million for the week.
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