Another year, (or two, or five, check the original schedule) passed and BSSC is still not running. If they ever run, BSSC will top out at 880-910 mph by their own figures. Coincidentally, this is the speed range that Blue Flame was designed for 40 years ago and later analysis showed it would achieve. Without a complete rebuild of the aft-lower chassis of BSSC to accommodate a cluster of rockets, 900 is not remotely practical. Even with that, the blunt and heavy car will never break 950, let alone 1,000.
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Blue: can I ask why you seem to be knocking a serious and genuine attempt to set a new LSR by the current holders?
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What is disappointing and disheartening about BSSC is the continued advertisement of the "First car designed to go 1,000 MPH" when the team's own numbers show it will never reach that goal. I wish them the best of luck. With the new rocket engines (not yet tested at flight weight, TRL-5) and the constraints of the hardware they have already built, 910-940 is a rational expectation. This is from their own numbers on the progress of their research with drag and weight growth vs their original baseline requirements. BSSC is a "serious and genuine" attempt to set a new ALSR above the current record of 763 MPH.
It will never go 1,000 MPH: too heavy, too much drag, too little power.
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I freely admit that I may be gullible, but I do buy into the Richard Noble 'hype', based mainly on his (and the team's) track record with Thrust 2 and ThrustSSC. He has a dogged persistence to keep going until his goals are achieved. If I were "anti-Noble" (and I'm not saying you are) my main concern would be that there is no serious contender to get to 1,000 mph first, whenever that might be.
That being said, the Bloodhound SSC project was conceived as a reaction to the perceived threat from Craig Breedlove. One of the aims was to maximise the potential of current technology and set a record that will last a generation. It will be the last word on the subject from Richard Noble/Andy Green/Ron Ayers.
The design goal is for a peak speed of 1,050 mph to ensure an average of 1,000 mph over the mile. That is a very difficult target to hit but I have not seen any figures from the team to suggest it cannot be achieved. The remaining difficult technical area is the rocket, which as you say has not been tested in the form needed for BSSC. The other difficulty is money (isn't it always?), which has been given as a reason for the latest delays. It would be really helpful if someone else could set an 800 mph record! That would generate enormous publicity and probably loosen the purse strings in some companies' boardrooms.
If you are correct, a record of 920 mph (say) would not be too shabby and might give others something attainable to shoot at. Up to a point too much weight and drag can be overcome with extra thrust. It all depends how big a firework Andy is willing to sit in front of.
I would predict that BSSC will be the first car over 1,000 mph. I would not like to say whether this will be in 2, 3, 5 or more years time. No-one else is ready to come close.