First came the low, cultured hum of the Formula One racing car engine; then rolling thunder as the rocket fired up.
A plume of flame shot out for ten seconds and the roar at the nozzle reached an estimated 186 decibels – louder than a Boeing 747 at take off. Indeed, the racket from the rocket was later claimed to be the loudest man-made noise anywhere in the world yesterday.
Such is the awesome power of the British supercar which aims to shatter the land speed record next year.
Yesterday, four years after the project began, the rocket system which the designers hope will help Bloodhound SSC (supersonic car) smash through the 1600km/h barrier was tested for the first time.
At 12 feet long, 18 inches in diameter and weighing just under 453kg, the rocket is the largest of its kind ever designed in Europe and was the biggest to be fired in the UK for 20 years. Yesterday, it was bolted to the floor for the test in a bomb-proof hangar at Newquay Airport, Cornwall, and was only operating at half capacity.
But next year, if all goes well when it is fitted inside the £10-million (R135-million) car, the rocket will send the gleaming orange and blue machine racing to 1689km/h.
In the hangar it was surrounded by a ‘water deluge system’ in case it exploded and concrete blocks separated it from other parts of the engine. “If it blows up, at least we’ll save something”, said one engineer. Guests were invited to watch via a video link in a nearby hangar and around 120 000 people around the globe viewed it online.
In its ultimate form the rocket will generate around 27 500 pounds of thrust – equivalent to almost 60 000kW, the combined output of 95 Formula One cars. Earplugs were available yesterday, a wise precaution given that the rock concert said to be the loudest ever – a 1976 show by The Who – reached a mere 126 decibels.
THE ACTION’S IN SOUTH AFRICA
The assault on the record is due to take place in the South African desert at Hakskeen Pan, the site in 1929 of one of Sir Malcolm Campbell’s many attempts. If Bloodhound succeeds, it will reach 1.4 times the speed of sound – fast enough to get from Land’s End to John o’Groats in 51 minutes.
It would also see RAF pilot Andy Green, 50, who will drive Bloodhound, smash his existing land speed record by more than 360km/h and become the first man to drive through the 1600km/h barrier. Should the target of 1689km/h be reached, it will also beat the low-altitude speed record for aircraft of 1590km/h.
Mr Green described what he faces at the controls: “2G acceleration, then 3G deceleration. 2G is the equivalent of 0 to 96km/h in 1.5 seconds. 3G is the equivalent of coming to a complete stop from 96km/h in one second – what most people would call an average car crash. Then all I have to do is control three engines and keep it going in a straight line.”
Up to a speed of 563km/h, it will be powered by a Eurofighter jet engine. A Cosworth V8 racing car engine is there to pump peroxide fuel into the rocket. A catalyst in the rocket then causes a chemical reaction which generates a temperature of 600C and the rocket ignites, giving the car the massive boost it needs to hit 1689km/h after 40 seconds.
Then, 3.5 seconds and one mile later, it will start to decelerate.
Project team leader Richard Noble said yesterday’s successful tests were a ‘major milestone’. -Daily Mail