Bloodhound Land Speed Record Car

https://www.bloodhoundlsr.com/

Soooo after a long hiatus the project is once again ‘out-and-about’

This time they’re looking for a new driver and the job is available to anyone with £12 million – which is what they think they’ll need to set a new land speed record.

Anytakers here? :o)

The first stop on this fundraising tour is the British Motor Museum at Gaydon (M40 jct12), I work next door so I popped over to see what’s happening. They’re just getting set up…

Do I wish to pay twelve million pounds to sit in a go-cart with a rocket strapped to it and hurtled across an African plain? 😂

Erm. Think I’ll just watch on YouTube thanks.

Wonder how many multimillionaires are wandering round thinking ‘I have the ability to drive past the sound barrier, if only there were an opportunity?!’

Probably as many as there are potential titanic explorers, at a guess.

Fernando Alonso likes to take on new projects and must be able to drum up a few sponsors. Can he drive in a straight line though?

Or Lawrence Stroll buys it, rebrands as Aston Martin, and puts Lance in – conveniently allowing him to get someone decent to partner Fernando at AM F1, thus recouping the 12m in improved results?

If the the forum users would like to have a whip round, and manage to drum up 12M I’ll give driving it a bash.
It is/was a wonderful bit of engineering, to showcase, to get people’s imagination going, to excite and engage younger generations of budding engineers. I love motorsport and engineering as much as the next bloke, cars and motorbikes have always interested me. But even I’m struggling to see the “relevance” in 2023 of this project. It’s years after it’s time. Thrust SSC, brilliant. This?? Just something that by the time it runs in anger (assuming it ever does) will be overshadowed by other technologies.

Shame though, I’d have loved for it to have been finished.

Looks gash in white. Preferred it in orange therefore I’m out

Maybe William Storey can get strapped to it?

If the the forum users would like to have a whip round, and manage to drum up 12M I’ll give driving it a bash.
It is/was a wonderful bit of engineering, to showcase, to get people’s imagination going, to excite and engage younger generations of budding engineers. I love motorsport and engineering as much as the next bloke, cars and motorbikes have always interested me. But even I’m struggling to see the “relevance” in 2023 of this project. It’s years after it’s time. Thrust SSC, brilliant. This?? Just something that by the time it runs in anger (assuming it ever does) will be overshadowed by other technologies.

Shame though, I’d have loved for it to have been finished.

Q: Are you still aiming to set the first Net Zero LSR? Yes. We intend to fuel the car without any fossil-derived fuels. Utilizing synthetic (Net Zero) fuel strengthens our ability to inspire the next generation of engineers and create a lasting legacy, as we demonstrate that we can continue to push engineering boundaries in a sustainable way.

I love the LSR and my name is on the tail fin of bloodhound. I don’t think this will ever be achieved due to various issues. 

When does stop being a car and start being a plane they’re trying to keep on the ground?

Hard pass from me – it’s a suicide mission. Any single thing that goes wrong is going to be catastrophic at that speed.

Good luck to them. I’m in awe at the engineering that has gone into this but as has been said, I don’t think this is something we need to be striving for any more.

I worked at a composite company that supplied a lot of the bodywork.

that was 8 years ago maybe 🤔

surprised it’s still about!

I went to the very first supporter day with my (at the time) young son who was a land speed record car fanatic. He patiently sat through a whole day of talks and was speechless meeting Richard Noble and Andy Green / getting a poster signed. They are quite unique characters and I can’t imagine anybody without military fast-jet training having the necessary skills and mindset to drive the thing.

There was a video somewhere of him doing a team debrief video after one of the test runs and the amount of data  absorbed from the run and how he described it clearly and logically to the team was very impressive.  They just aren’t normal human beings. And to reach the target speed is incredibly complicated in terms of managing the acceleration and deceleration to stay within survivable levels. It isn’t just press the pedal and turn it off when you reach the target.

Some say the project was a waste of time, but it has helped inspire a number of kids to study and pursue careers in science or engineering.

Maybe William Storey can get strapped to it?

Yeah, that’s one name that popped into my head as a prime candidate for self-funded Darwin Award candidacy. The other was Elongated Muskrat – he’s always after an opportunity to show what a macho man he is.

There was a video somewhere of him doing a team debrief video after one of the test runs and the amount of data absorbed from the run and how he described it clearly and logically to the team was very impressive.

I went to the open day they had after returning from their runs a few years ago and he takes through the whole debrief there. Incredible amount of detail and clarity whilst doing a very unique job. I doubt they’ll get anyone other than a fighter pilot to drive the car due to the skills required.