RAF
Typhoon-Powered Car To Get November Test-Drive
The Bloodhound SSC (Supersonic Car) is to make its world debut on November 17th, with a 200mph trial at Newquay Aerohub in Cornwall.
It's hoped the car, which is driven by serving RAF fighter pilot Andy Green and powered by the supersonic Eurojet EJ200 engine usually found in the Air Forces’ fastest strike fighter, the Typhoon FGR4, will eventually be able to set a new World Land speed record of 1,000mph.
Engineers from across the globe have spent the last eight years working on the project, which hopes to create the fastest car in the world, with the current land-speed record of 763mph having been set by Wing Commander Green in 1997.
Take a look below at what it'll take to push a car to a whopping 1,000 mph...
Following the November debut, the car will be fitted with airbrakes and winglets before commencing high-speed testing in the Hakskeen Pan desert in South Africa in summer 2016.
RAF and Army engineers have been involved in the car's development, with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) working on systems integration whilst 71 (IR) Squadron have been building the tail fin.
REME and the RAF team have been working closely with Formula One engineers and rocket scientists to pull the car together in time for the test run. Wing Commander Green said:
“When you combine the very best of British motor sport and British aerospace engineering you can create a car that can go faster than an aircraft. This car is going to do 1,000 mph. That’s faster than any jet fighter in history at ground level, including the Typhoon.”
FACT FILE:
•The Bloodhound SSC measures 13.4m long, with a two-metre high tail fin.
•It weighs 7.5 tonnes.
•Its 135,000 horsepower engine holds six times the power of all the Formula 1 cars in a race put together.
•It boasts a titanium floor and carbon-fibre front monocoque painted to aerospace standards.
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