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posted on 7/12/18 at 05:03 PM
Bloodhound land speed record project axed
Sad news for the Bloodhound project, see link below, I've been following this and was hopeful they would get down to South Africa next year and
build up to their 1,000 mph target.
Surely some British entrepreneur has a spare 250,000 to buy the project and a few million to fund it to completion? Richard Branson??
What a shame. One interesting fact was that they were using an Indy car engine just to run the fuel pump for the Typhoon jet engine iirc.
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Sad News for all those involved but have to say in these financially troubled times it was fairly inevitable as costs seemed to be escalating
Wonder what will happen to the staff involved and also if the bill has been paid for the strip of land in Africa that was cleared ready for the first
run?
quote:Originally posted by Ugg10
One interesting fact was that they were using an Indy car engine just to run the fuel pump for the Typhoon jet engine iirc.
It ended up being a supercharged Jaguar V8, and it was to run the fuel pump for the rocket, not the Typhoon jet engine.
...and it was necessary because they lacked the know-how to design a throttleable HTP-driven turbopump, which is by far the more elegant (and lighter)
solution in engineering terms, and which we were doing on rocket engines back in the 1950's).
The whole thing was surprisingly crude, in some respects
I was "unlucky" enough to see Thrust SSC, day after day for months, when it was sadly parked up on a low loader at Gaydon Services on the
M40 after it had achieved it's record breaking run.
To be honest I'm not surprised; no one's going to throw money at a vanity project like that when they can't even be sure
they'll be in business this time next year.
If disfunction is a function, then I must be some kind of genius.
It isn't a business, it is a Land Speed Record attempt. They have not been raising money via any business model,only charity and sponsorship.
They are doing it for the challenge, like Hilary did climbing Everest. No-one will make money from this !
But;
Imagine if this is successful how much good it could do for the future of British engineering, and how much they could make from
giving talks to new engineers.
I once attended a talk by Richard Noble, I wish I had his enthusiasm for speed and life !
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posted on 10/12/18 at 09:54 PM
People just ain't interested. The public probably spend more texting for those idiots on strictly than donating to the project. Probably no
surprise given how much air time the two receive. BBC could have done a short series with Giles Martin and David Attenborough to raise awareness.
Years ago LSR's were something the British public could publicise around the world, we were proud to hold them and others tried to emulate us.
Now all we are interested in is un-known celebrities doing some advertising for stuff we don't need.
quote:Originally posted by slingshot2000No-one will make money from this !
Actually, if you look at the company's annual returns (which are public documents), they imply that Noble and Green have both been drawing
6-figure salaries from the project, paid for from those donations.
quote:Originally posted by slingshot2000
It isn't a business, it is a Land Speed Record attempt. They have not been raising money via any business model,only charity and sponsorship.
They are doing it for the challenge, like Hilary did climbing Everest. No-one will make money from this !
But;
Imagine if this is successful how much good it could do for the future of British engineering, and how much they could make from
giving talks to new engineers.
[Edited on 10/12/18 by slingshot2000]
Apologies for the misunderstanding; I meant that the donors don't know whether they themselves would be in business this time next year, and
therefore are not willing to throw money at something they'd never see a return on.
To be honest it's taken too long; the early enthusiasm waned and the costs spiralled. The public was never really engaged; I think the common
view is that land speed records are a bit passe when you see rockets launching payloads into orbit and then successfully landing vertically on a small
launchpad. Or you've got people queing up for food banks. Or the omnishambles that is Brexit.
If it had launched a few years earlier it may have been OK, but the state the country is at the moment it's almost a miracle it lasted this
long.
If disfunction is a function, then I must be some kind of genius.
I genuinely don't see the point. Now don't get me wrong I love the whole explorer/pioneer spirit. I love reading about and watching stuff
on Bonneville, Donald campbell etc. But this is so irrelevant. It's just willy waving. What are we going to learn about going above the last
record?
Petrol engines are let's face it dying. Surely there are more interesting and relevant engineering projects to take on over plonking a typhoon
engine into a car.
quote:Originally posted by sdh2903
I genuinely don't see the point. Now don't get me wrong I love the whole explorer/pioneer spirit. I love reading about and watching stuff
on Bonneville, Donald campbell etc. But this is so irrelevant. It's just willy waving. What are we going to learn about going above the last
record?
Petrol engines are let's face it dying. Surely there are more interesting and relevant engineering projects to take on over plonking a typhoon
engine into a car.
lol, interesting comment on a forum like this....and so mankind progresses no more, mark this day in history
Its an engineering challenge not just willy waving (but the competition to be the first at 1000mph is a hell of a motivator for those involved). The
dynamics of a land based vehicle (not a plane or space craft) at these speeds is just unknown so they are braking new ground with ever run that is
1mph faster than the last record. Better still its an open plan project (well it was, new owner might have other ideas) so nothing to hide and what
they learn will no doubt be shared for general knowledge improvement of all.
But then each to his own, although on this forum I should think most members appreciate what it is
No I can fully appreciate what it is. But again what are we going to learn really? How tyres work at 800mph? The fuel consumption of a typhoon engine
at sea level? What is going to come from this to progress the automotive industry? I can't honestly think of anything? But it's the guys
money so he obviously fancies their chances and can see an opportunity.
quote:Originally posted by sdh2903
No I can fully appreciate what it is. But again what are we going to learn really? How tyres work at 800mph? The fuel consumption of a typhoon engine
at sea level? What is going to come from this to progress the automotive industry? I can't honestly think of anything? But it's the guys
money so he obviously fancies their chances and can see an opportunity.
First thing to learn, it doesn't have tyres. Second the typhoon engine is only to get the car to circa 650mph. Third, so much more to learn if
one reads about it and takes an interest
quote:Originally posted by sdh2903
Ok enlighten me. What are we going to learn that's useful and will help us progress in other areas of engineering? [/quote
I give up! Let us go back to living in caves rather than explore the limits of what is possible
