Every month, driver Andy Green writes his diary page bringing the project up to date from his perspective, and looking forward to what is planned next on the way to breaking the World Land Speed Record
As the UK continues to turn brown and curl up at the edges, we’re having a busy summer of (very hot) public events across the country.
Some good news and some disappointing news over the past few weeks ...
After several months of sitting on its runway wheels, BLOODHOUND SSC is now back up on blocks, with the wheels and brakes removed and stripped down, as we prepare to fit the desert running gear.
Plans are developing nicely for our forthcoming ‘BLOODHOUND 500’ test session later this year. BLOODHOUND’s Chief Exec, Richard Noble, has just returned from a hugely busy week of meetings in South Africa.
It’s still 9 months until October, when we plan to have BLOODHOUND SSC running in South Africa, and there is a lot to do between now and then. It’s not just the engineering required to run at high speed: in some ways, getting the Car ready is the easy bit.
2017 became the year of ‘BLOODHOUND is GO!’ and boy did it go!
‘BLOODHOUND is Operational’. In 3 words BLOODHOUND’s Operations Director, Martyn Davidson, summed up the fantastic achievements of our month at Newquay. We had just completed our first public runs, in front of a crowd of 3500 media, sponsors and supporters.
BLOODHOUND roared into life right on cue. Several months ago, we committed to getting the Car to Newquay Airport at the end of September, to start our ‘slow speed’ (200 mph) UK runway tests.
Just a few weeks now until the BLOODHOUND team deploys the Car to Newquay for the first time. We’re planning to be down there before the end of September, to get the workshop set up in one of the old hardened aircraft shelters, ready to start testing at the beginning of October.
As we complete each piece of the BLOODHOUND SSC, the October runs at Newquay feel a little closer. The surprising part of this process is that there are a lot of engineering judgements to be made as we build up the Car.
BLOODHOUND is Go! That’s the phrase we’ve been waiting for and now the dates are confirmed: we’ll be blasting the Car down the runway at Newquay in Cornwall at the end of October.
I never fail to be struck by the power of BLOODHOUND to tell its science and technology story. Perhaps this should not be a surprise.
