Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Bloodhound rocket car target of 550mph put on ice after engine overheat

Team chilling over weekend to pick it back up on Monday

The Bloodhound land speed team hit 500mph (804kmph) yesterday but had to call off today's target of 550mph (885kmph) after an engine temperature warning.

The car reached 501mph (806kph) and successfully trialled the modified brake chutes. The team said there was noticeable yaw caused by a light cross-wind but the car remained controllable.

The BBC's man on the ground said watching the car today was like a rocket launch – as much about the sensations you feel as what you can see.

Bloodhound hit 481mph today before driver Andy Green lifted off the accelerator in response to an engine warning.

The car is powered by an EJ200 Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine and runs on precision-milled solid aluminium wheels. Much of the testing concerns how well the car can slow and stop via chutes, air brakes and wheel brakes.

Some 192 pressure sensors monitor the car and compare results with computational fluid dynamics models created at the University of Swansea. The results of this will help decide what rocket can be fitted to the car to push it over the 1,000mph (1,609 km/h) mark.

There's still some way to go for the rocket-powered car to reach that target. First the crew aims to break the current land speed record of 763mph before starting on the second phase, exceeding 1,000mph (1,609kmph).

Testing in Hakskeenpan, a salt pan in the Kalahari Desert, in South Africa's Northern Cape province, will continue on Monday.

The team also thanked the Northern Cape provincial government and members of the local Meir community, who removed 16,500 tonnes of rock from the 16km-long, 250m-wide track on the dry lake bed so the car could have a smooth surface to run on.

The project was rescued by Yorkshire businessman Ian Warhurst just before Christmas last year. Warhurst is keeping schtum about what the jaunt is costing him beyond saying he's up to seven figures so far.

The current record of 763mph (1,227.985kph) was set in 1997 by a British team including Bloodhound LSR driver Andy Green. ®

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like