800 mph?

[Smalleyster]

Now that the American Eagle and the Bloodhound both seem to be out of the picture, are there any other players at the top of the pile?

As merely a spectator from afar, it seems to this old machinist mechanic that the 800 mph answer is sitting right there in the records for someone to put the concept back into play. Not a big aircraft engine BTW.

My back of the envelope guestimates that it would take around a million bux to do considering today's CAD and component technologies.

What am I missing?

DAVE
Homestead Florida

[floydjer]

Move the decimal point two spaces to the right.

[WOODY@DDLLC]

https://www.bloodhoundlsr.com/800-mph-bloodhound-lsr-project-for-sale/

[tortoise]

The whole jet+rocket concept was a crock to start with. They defended it by claiming the complexity added educational value for the kiddies following the project.

[Peter Jack]

I think the Aussie Invader project is still fully operational.

Pete

[racefanwfo]

If i had the money to buy the car i damn sure would drive it myself instead of letting that limey andy green drive the car.

[manta22]

If i had the money to buy the car i damn sure would drive it myself instead of letting that limey andy green drive the car.

Andy is a good guy. I met him in 2006 when he drove the JCB Dieselmax at Speedweek. Since Jon was having his "Land Speed Gathering" that afternoon, I invited Andy to come and he did!

[Malcolm UK]

it seems to this old machinist mechanic that the 800 mph answer is sitting right there in the records for someone to put the concept back into play.
What am I missing? 
DAVE
Homestead Florida

Bloodhound SSC (when led by Richard Noble) and Aussie Invader 5R (Rosco) have taken the view that the 'public' (and presumably marketing persons in big corporations too) would see the next goal as an outright speed of +1000mph.

Coming in with a 800mph goal might awaken the American market place, but then you would probably need to find a running location in your Country. Andy Green did visit many in US and all accessible countries of the world and discounted them. Bloodhound SSC then focused on Hakskeen Pan, South Africa.

In mentioning Eagle, do remember Jessie Coombs (RIP).

   

[MAYOMAN]

800 plus miles per hour?
I thought we had answered that question, at least the feasibility, in 1970 with The Blue Flame.
When we began the design of The Blue Flame in earnest in 1968, we enlisted the aid of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department professors and graduate students to meet our project time commitments.

Our design goal was to set a new land speed record exceeding Mach 1, the speed of sound. Estimating the nominal ground speed of Mach 1 at 750 mph, we designed for a target speed of Mach 1.1 ? or 825 mph. Tom Morel?s 1969 thesis, AERODYNAMC DESIGN OF A HIGH-SPEED ROCKET CAR, based upon wind tunnel testing, was that running our bespoke 22,000 pounds thrust rocket motor at full thrust for 20 seconds would achieve a peak speed of 825 mph at the end of the measured mile speed traps, with an average speed for the mile of 817 mph. The Goodyear tires mounted on our bespoke wheels were all dynamically tested to 850 mph.

However, Goodyear, who owned the tires, demanded we keep our maximum speed below 700 mph for our initial record attempts in 1970. This required that we detune the bespoke rocket to 16,000 pounds thrust to assure the car would not exceed 700 mph.  We could run the rocket at 22,000 for the Mach 1 attempt the following year.

Krishna Pandey?s 1970 thesis, DESIGN OF THE BLUE FLAME VEHICLE ? PERFORMANCE OF THE BLUE FLAME, recalculated the speed target with the 700 mph Goodyear-imposed limit. Running at full (reduced) thrust Pandey calculated a peak speed of 680 mph, with an average for the mile of 645 mph.

The Blue Flame on its last runs in 1970 achieved a peak speed of 660 mph, with the record average speed of 630.388 mph. This performance verified the design calculations accuracy.

The whole project, from design though construction and running for the record at Bonneville was $500,000 in 1970 dollars. That should answer the question: 800 mph plus?

[MAYOMAN]

I forget to add Tom Morel's thesis.