Land Speed Record - Black Rock Desert Nevada wiki Land Speed Record Jump to: navigation , search The Black Rock Desert has been the site of several land speed records. As of May, 2013, the world land speed record title is held by Andy Green in his 1997 run. Contents 4 October 1983, Richard Noble, Thrust2, 633.468 mph 25 September 1997, Andy Green, ThrustSSC, 714.144 mph 15 October 1997, Andy Green, ThrustSSC, 763.035 mph (Mach 1.016) Thrust2 BBC Motion Gallery - Search Results "Thrust 2" Derrel S. Fulwider, " From Resource Management to People Management: Reflections of a Federal Land Manager ," p 4, Winter-Spring 1986, The Humboldt Historian. Discussion about the May 11, 1983 public permit hearings in Gerlach and Reno. Map that shows the land speed record site.

Thrust SSC Reno Gazette Journal, " Land Speed Record 10th Anniversary ," October 15, 2007. Includes photos. Steve Fossett CNN, " Search continues for aviation adventurer Steve Fossett ," September 4, 2007. Maj. Cynthia S. Ryan is quoted as stating that Fossett was looking for land speed record sites, though the Wikipedia article refutes that, though there is no citation. The Spectator, Hamilton, ON., " Supersonic woman sought; 'Right stuff' includes compact size ," January 31, 2008 Bloodhound Engineering News, South Africa, Bloodhound team pins land-speed record hopes on Northern Cape’s Hakskeen Pan ," January 28, 2011. "The current land-speed record was set in Nevada, in the US, in the Black Rock desert, so why not go back there? Tipler says that it isn’t flat enough anymore." ThrustSSC - The fastest car in the world Above, the BBC documentary on the ThrustSSC. Below, the BloodhoundSSC that is currently being built.

The teams It has been said that the first car race probably took place the first time two cars pulled up beside each other. And ever since then, there has been competition to see who could go the fastest. In the fall of 1997, two teams, one from Great Britain and the other from southern California, traveled to Nevada and gathered at the Black Rock Desert. Surrounded by the media and hundreds of devoted race fans, they took turns doing the best they could. One team came fully prepared. After thousands of hours of hard work, they met their goals. The other team tried but had problems, and has since sold the car to another American team that hopes to bring the record back to the United States. But for now, and for the foreseeable future, there is no doubt whatsoever as to who has the fastest car in the world, and the fastest car in history. Before we were able to fully appreciate the degrees of dedication, preparation and professionalism that the ThrustSSC team had put into their campaign, many of us had been betting on Craig Breedlove to be the first to go supersonic on land, with his Spirit of America jet car.

Relatively lightweight and looking very aerodynamic, the Spirit of America seemed like an intelligent approach to the challenge at hand. On September 4th, 1997, Breedlove and the Spirit of America crew began testing the car at Black Rock. Breedlove and his team struggled with everything from a damaged engine (and a spare engine back in California that they hadn't even brought with them) to getting their truck and trailer stuck in the mud (and then being pulled out by the members of the ThrustSSC team). And before long, Breedlove's team was forced to aim for Andy Green's World Land Speed Record of 714 miles per hour. Craig Breedlove stated that he still intended to beat the current record set by the ThrustSSC team. Having driven the Spirit of America to a best speed of 636 miles per hour in 1997, Breedlove claimed to be optimistic about regaining the Land Speed Record, with runs of at least 771 miles per hour. For several years, Breedlove had a Web site at but after being very rarely updated, the site disappeared in 2003.

In 2006, Breedlove's race car was sold to the late Steve Fossett , who had planned to run at Bonneville in 2007, possibly after Speed Week. Steve's target was 800 mph. That would have been quite a ride. This page was originally created back in March of 1997, and has been revised several times thereafter, in light of the ThrustSSC team's incredible accomplishments on Monday, October 13th, and Wednesday, October 15th, 1997. Beyond words Richard Noble had a vision. He wanted to beat the world land speed record, and he believed he could do it. The record to beat was his own, set on October 4th, 1983 in Thrust 2, a jet car that was designed by John Ackroyd, with brakes and wheels that were designed with the help of Glynne Bowsher. Noble's record had stood for almost fourteen years, since he had traveled to the Black Rock Desert in Gerlach, Nevada, and made two runs that averaged 633.468 miles per hour.

After considerable thought, in the early 1990s he concluded that it was possible to build a car that would not only set a new record, but actually break the sound barrier. It was decided that between its surface, distance, and accessibility, the ideal place for history to be made was the Black Rock Desert, where Noble had set his record in 1983. Castrol, who had sponsored Noble's record-holding Thrust 2, invited him to give a presentation on Land Speed Record racing to company executives. After he finished, he was told that when he was ready to build a new car, Castrol would help. In May of 1994, the ThrustSSC (Thrust-powered SuperSonic Car) project was announced. Castrol funding made possible a considerable amount of research. A chance meeting between Richard Noble and Ron Ayers, an experienced and inventive aerodynamicist, led to the two of them working together to refine the concept. They agreed that the project would proceed as long as they were certain that the car was safe.

Glynne Bowsher, who had helped Noble with the design of the Thrust 2, was happy to be able to contribute to the new project as the mechanical and structural designer. On a computer, Bowsher used finite element analysis to design the unique aluminum wheels, which had to withstand more than 35,000 Gs. The wheels were forged by HDA Forgings and then machined by Dunlop Aviation, who tested them on a dynamometer at 9,500 rpm. SKF contributed special tungsten carbide roller wheel bearings, and Castrol developed the lubrication technology that would enable the bearings to reliably withstand 8,500 rpm. Arrows are made with weight at the front, so to provide stability, a forward center of gravity was called for. Concern for the safety of the driver lead to the decision to use two jet engines, with one on either side of the driver. At speed, this would make it easier for the driver to have a feel for what the car was doing. As a bonus, the two engines would also provide enough thrust to overcome tremendous aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance.

To minimize the aerodynamic drag, the frontal area of the car naturally had to be kept to an absolute minimum. The front wheels were to be located under the inlet ducts for the engines. Since the carbon front brakes and independent front suspension had already spoken for all of the available space around the front wheels, this presented the problem of providing room for the front wheels to steer. Bowsher theorized that the frontal area of the car could be kept to its ideal minimum if the rear wheels provided the steering. He proposed mounting one rear wheel ahead of the other, spaced apart laterally as was allowed by the narrow rear end of the car, with both steering. This one was a tough sell. Amongst considerable skepticism, a scaled-down version of the car's proposed wheel layout was built, using an old Austin Mini that belonged to Bowsher's brother-in-law. With its front wheels locked in place, many people drove the rear-steering Mini. When the car was tested at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour, it was found that it could be held in a straight line to within a one-inch tolerance. Everyone who drove the Mini was surprised and impressed. Bowsher's idea got the approval of the team.

Gaining access to a Cray Research 92 computer with Flite aviation design software enabled them to refine the concept, using computational fluid dynamics. After a great deal of work, they were able to predict the car's performance under a variety of conditions. The concept looked promising, but the team wanted to be absolutely certain that they were taking the correct approach. An accurate, 1/25th-scale model was built, and run on a military rocket sled track at Pendine Sands in South Wales, where it was mounted in front of a rocket and run at supersonic speeds. After each pass it was lowered, until at the end it skimmed across the surface of the track. Data collected from these tests enabled the team to become the first to fully understand what really happens to the air underneath a car when it goes faster than the speed of sound. Another breakthrough followed. The data from the computer projections and the supersonic scale model testing were then compared. To the amazement of everyone involved, the conclusions from both testing methods correlated almost exactly. Noble wisely decided that since this was to be an exceptional race car, its driver must have some exceptional skills.

And the more the project progressed, the more it became apparent that he needed to focus on its other aspects: "My situation is that I have made a very, very painful decision not to drive. We're in a situation where, to get the car operational by next year, we've got to go for one hell of a build operation. Basically, to fund that and to manage that is going to be a tremendous undertaking. The reality is that we've got to find somebody who has got to live with the team, who has got to actually train up with the team, and who will then become the car's driver." A competitive selection process took place to see who would drive the fastest car ever built. But rather than advertise for people to apply, he simply allowed the message to spread, thereby providing the applicants with their first test  their own initiative. Thirty people applied. All of them were either drag racers or pilots. At the Center of Human Sciences in Farnborough, Professor Roger Green provided help with the project: "What we had to do was decide how to whittle this down further. The most obvious thing to do was to give them all a sanity test and take the ones who failed.

But one Richard Noble is obviously quite enough already." The ability to be part of a team was given equal importance as being able to control the race car. Based on their experience, the thirty were first narrowed down to sixteen, who were given numerous intelligence and personality tests. The goal was to find the most analytical individuals, who would be likely to contribute the most in solving problems, both in controlling ThrustSSC, and in its design. Eight remained, all of whom were pilots. The next objective was to find out who could handle extreme stress and discomfort for extended periods, and yet still be part of a team that was working toward a common goal. For most of two days and both nights, the eight were kept at the Center of Human Sciences. The Thrust team was to spend a great deal of time working for long hours on a hot desert. As a surprise, they were kept awake all night in a heat chamber, where they were filmed at all times and given difficult computer-based tests at periodic intervals, to see how fatigue and stress affected their performance. British rally champion Russell Brooks gave the five potential drivers that remained the opportunity to drive a Formula Two rally car in time trials as quickly as their abilities allowed.

Feedback from Brooks narrowed the five down to four, who then interacted with the rest of the team, facing design challenges. Finally, without the four realizing it, the members of the team filled out questionnaires asking their opinions. Of all of the contenders, one man came out on top: a British Royal Air Force jet fighter pilot named Andy Green. But once the car had been designed, and the driver and race track selected, the logistics in the project that remained were staggering. There was the cost of building the car, testing it, bringing it from England to the desert in Nevada and back, and looking after a substantial support crew. Richard knew that in order for this to happen, he would need a lot of help from a lot of talented and dedicated people working together. The more the concept of Noble, Ayers, Bowsher, Green and the rest of the team was refined, the more it seemed that the most significant obstacle to overcome was in raising the enormous amount of money it would take. Robin Richardson suggested forming the Mach 1 Club, which provided a way for land speed record racing enthusiasts to become involved in everything from publicity to fundraising through the sale of memberships and souvenirs.

Early on, Castrol and Dunlop had become sponsors of the ThrustSSC project. This was a big help, but it would take far more. In the hope of securing the sponsorship that would make it possible to race the car, Noble took his vision to a number of large corporations, explaining what he was going to do, and what it would mean to the United Kingdom and to the automotive industry. People listened, but none stepped up with a commitment to provide all that was needed. He continued knocking on corporate doors. "Quite impressive, Mr. Noble. Call us when you've done it." This was in the mid-1990s, a time when the Internet was new to most of the world. And there was the answer. In April of 1995, team member Robin Richardson obtained help from his employer, Digital, in launching a Web site for the ThrustSSC project. In November of 1995, Nick Chapman and Jeremy Davey took on the responsibility of managing the site. In essence, the message was that ThrustSSC was being built, and it was going to be the fastest car in history. It was also going to be the first car to officially break the sound barrier.

But considerable help was needed to make it all happen. The necessary technology, equipment, and projected costs were outlined. Arrangements were made to borrow the largest airplane in the world, the Russian Antonov 124 cargo plane. The Antonov would make it possible to transport the completed race car, its spare jet engines, spare parts, tools, pit control station, computers and data acquisition equipment, all of the required support cars, trucks, trailers, and ATVs, ultralight aircraft for flying overhead to check the track and take photographs, a number of big tents to protect everything, and a whole lot of fuel. On the Web site, mention was made that in order to do all of this, it would take a total of 250,000 gallons of fuel. If no single source was going to provide it, would some of you care to help by buying 25 gallons? British television and radio picked up the story. Traffic to the site began to grow. All through the United Kingdom, a sense of duty and pride led to everyone from executives to young children sending in payments for 25 gallons, a hundred gallons  whatever they were able to share.

Not only was history made by building and racing the ThrustSSC successfully, but their Web site demonstrated the potential of the Internet as a means of sharing a story with the world, and for helping to create the interest and support in a project that ultimately made it possible for the team to meet a goal that relatively few believed would ever be possible. Special thanks go to Jeremy Davey, the Webmaster of the ThrustSSC Web site, who took most of the pictures that appear in this article. Until the team reached their objective, their site was revised regularly. Jeremy Davey did a superb job of sharing the excitement and suspense of their adventure with the rest of the world. The ThrustSSC Web site can be found at A souvenir CD-ROM made up of the entire ThrustSSC site is available. It contains the entire story, including lots of engineering information, a number of audio and video clips, and thousands of photographs. Proceeds from the sale of the CD-ROM and from other souvenirs go towards paying back loans that were made to the team for this extremely expensive endeavor.

Shown on the right are world land speed record holder Richard Noble (left) and aerodynamicist Ron Ayers (right), standing beside ThrustSSC as its construction was underway. In an article written by Andrew Graves, published in the January 1998 issue of Prototyping Technology, Ayers explained his role in the project. "The rocket sled tests confirmed our computer predictions. At that stage, my job as an aerodynamicist was substantially done. The shape was defined." "I became more involved again when the car was running. This was because I then had to specify what its performance capabilities were and define the run profiles for each run and effectively define each run as a scientific experiment.

A run profile includes the rate of acceleration and at what level the car reaches certain speeds." "The third member of our design team is a chap called Jeremy Bliss, who used to do active suspension on Formula 1 in the days when it was allowed." "Experiments included exercising the active suspension by pushing it up and down, partly to test it, but also to check the aerodynamic characteristics of the car during a range of circumstances." "There were over 120 sensors on the car measuring everything you can think of, from the wheel loads to the bearing temperatures, the brake temperatures, the aerodynamic pressures on thirty different points, hydraulic pressures, engine characteristics and fuel forces. So we treated it like a first prototype airplane, going a little faster each time and checking the data." "We could download the data between runs and check the safety-critical items like the wheel loads on the desert, the bearing temperatures, et cetera. We did this between runs, even when we were breaking records and we had to do the turnaround within the hour. While we were refueling the car, which took about twenty minutes, we could download data that myself, Glynne Bowsher, Jeremy Bliss and probably Andy Green, the driver, would then check.

We knew in advance what we wanted to check. We could call up that data and check that the lines were where we expected them to be on the graphs, and that there was nothing near to the limits. If this was so, then we would authorize the next run." In an interview published on the ThrustSSC Web site, former missile designer Ayers provided these cheerful thoughts: "If the front of the car lifts by as little as one degree, or even half a degree, all the weight will come off the front wheels. The car will then nose up and flip over backwards. The forces acting upon it at maximum speed will be in excess of forty times the force of gravity." "If the nose comes up, you're going flying. But equally, if it goes down, then you're going mining. The car's aerodynamic behavior has got to be neutral." Jeremy Bliss designed an active rear suspension system to allow the rake of the car to be adjusted during its runs, very quickly. It worked quite well. ThrustSSC is fifty-four feet long, and twelve feet wide.

It is powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Spey 202 jet engines from a Phantom fighter producing 50,000 pounds of thrust and 110,000 horsepower. Easily as awesome as any car ever built, ThrustSSC is an incredible achievement and an overwhelming sight. Some think the car looks like a giant hot dog. An article Ayers wrote about the shape of the car contains a story worth sharing: "The shape of the car has certainly aroused much comment. Everyone agrees it is impressive. Many people have said it is beautiful. One young lady disagreed. She told me in accusing tones that the shape I had designed was the ultimate male sex symbol. Lamely, I shrank from asking her what geometric modifications would be required to turn it into a female sex symbol. I contented myself by telling her that the shape had been designed by mathematics, and that I would check the equations to see which one contained the gender information." After its construction, the car was taken to a 7,000-foot airfield in Farnborough, where low-speed tests verified that all systems performed as intended. Then another longtime racing fan became involved.

King Hussein of Jordan provided access to a large area of the Jafr desert, with the full cooperation of the Jordanian Army. On two visits a number of test runs were made. The team spent thousands of hours clearing a course for the car to run on, battling dust storms and torrential rain. Back in the UK, Aireshelta flew in a huge inflatable shelter to house the race car. The desert surface ultimately proved to be too uneven for the car to go beyond 540 miles per hour, and a rear suspension bracket was damaged. Nonetheless, ThrustSSC essentially performed very well, and was found to be stable and safe. With just a few weeks remaining before the team's scheduled departure to Black Rock, further refinements and minor repairs were carried out. At this point, now that people could see that the team had a very real chance of success, more sponsors became involved, and new equipment was added. For the first time since the team had begun their adventure, there was no doubt that the trip to Black Rock was going to proceed according to plan. After the final adjustments and improvements were made to the car, ThrustSSC was pronounced ready for its mission. It was time to make history.

Craig Breedlove and the Spirit of America race team were already at Black Rock, preparing for their own assault on the land speed record, and the sound barrier. Everything that was needed, totaling almost ninety tons, was loaded into the Antonov cargo plane and flown to Gander, Newfoundland for a fuel stop, and then on to Reno, Nevada. After the flight, the crew, the race car, and all of the team's equipment were transported to the Black Rock Desert. Six miles of the desert were used to bring the car up to the timing lights set a few hundred feet apart. Then comes the measured mile, where the speed of the car is recorded. Another six miles were used to bring the car to a stop. To mark the race course, a mixture of gypsum and water was used to create perfectly straight lines twelve miles long. The desert has been used as a firing range, and is littered with thousands of artillery shells. The entire course had to be inspected and cleared of anything that might cause damage to the race car's engines or wheels. In early September of 1997, the stage was finally set for the ultimate car race  to be the first to officially break the sound barrier in a race car.

Between setting up their equipment, preparing the race course, mechanical challenges involved in taking care of the race car and continuing to refine it, press conferences, documenting everything, and waiting for the Spirit of America to make runs, the team spent over two months on the desert. Andy Green rather casually went about his mission of driving ThrustSSC. Andy's skills as a British Royal Air Force pilot were put to good use. On September 25th of 1997, the ThrustSSC team reached one of their goals by setting a new World Land Speed Record, with a two-way average speed of 714.144 miles per hour. The new record was below the speed of sound, but it nonetheless clearly proved the project worthwhile. The team had designed, built and raced the fastest car in history. A few days later, an unofficial burst up to 750 miles per hour proved that the car could go supersonic and remain controllable. The design ideas of Ron Ayers, Glynne Bowsher, Jeremy Bliss and rest of the team, along with Richard Noble's perseverance, and Andy Green's talent and experience had once again proven themselves.

Then, on Monday, October 13th, Andy and the ThrustSSC team shocked the world with two runs, at 764.168 miles per hour (Mach 1.007) and 760.135 miles per hour (Mach 1.003). The unaltered photograph on the right is one of a series of pictures taken by Richard Meredith-Hardy while aboard one of the team's ultralight surveillance planes. This image clearly shows a shockwave coming off the nose of ThrustSSC, raising dust and extending back from the fifty-four-foot-long race car for almost 300 feet. On October 13th of 1997, when this picture was taken, it was the first time in history that any documentation had been made of a shockwave forming around a car. When this area of the desert was inspected, it was found that the car's tracks were barely visible, due to the ground having been pulverized by the shockwave.

In order to set a new Land Speed Record (and the first official supersonic Land Speed Record set in a car), the car's first run has to backed up with a second run in the opposite direction within one hour. When the parachute failed to deploy on the first run, the car traveled much farther than anticipated, causing a delay in getting the car ready for its backup run. The crew did all anyone could have done, but according to the United States Auto Club officials, the backup run came at 60 minutes and 49.6 seconds. On Wednesday, October 15th, 1997, the ThrustSSC team made two more runs. The first, the car's 65th run, was timed at 759.333 miles per hour, which is Mach 1.015. The all-important backup run was successfully made within the hour, at 766.609 miles per hour. After verifying the timing equipment, the USAC officials granted the team a new world land speed record. The average speed between the two runs was 763.035 miles per hour, which is Mach 1.020.

Not bad, considering the slug of a plane that brought them there only did 340. A goal that many among us had thought of as being unattainable had been reached. And now, if you want to set a new unlimited world land speed record, first you're going to have to break the sound barrier. When an excited reporter asked him what the world looked like from the inside of a car going over 700 miles per hour, Andy replied, "The same as stationary, only faster." Some of the most prolific race car drivers in the world shook their heads in amazement when they heard of what ThrustSSC jet car team members Ron Ayers, Jeremy Bliss, Glynne Bowsher, Jeremy Davey, Andy Green, Richard Noble, Robin Richardson, and their hundreds of helpers had accomplished. What they accomplished goes far beyond words. We salute everyone who helped the ThrustSSC team break down what may have been the most significant remaining motorsports milestone. There can be no doubt that everyone involved with the ThrustSSC team truly deserve every bit of their success.

They impressed the world with their determination, their pioneering resourcefulness and creativity, their nation's pride, their sense of adventure, considerable brilliant engineering, and their unequaled spirit of sportsmanship towards their struggling competitor. To all who were fortunate enough to have met them in Black Rock, they were indeed a class act. When the team returned home, they left behind many new American friends. Upon reaching the goal of setting a supersonic land speed record on October 15th, 1997, Noble announced that the ThrustSSC was officially retired. The car is now on display in the Coventry Transport Museum . After spending months on a remote, dusty desert, the team returned home. A few of them had their old jobs waiting for them. Andy Green returned to the Royal Air Force. Others began searching for new opportunities. Richard Noble and Ron Ayers went to work at Farnborough Aircraft , developing a revolutionary single-engine turboprop air taxi.

Standing on a hot, dusty, Nevada desert, an excited reporter asked a member of the ThrustSSC crew, "Now that you've gone faster than the speed of sound, what are you going to do next?" "Well, there's always the speed of light." The video tribute above is the work of Thomas Saintin. The ThrustSSC Team at the Black Rock Desert in 1997 Robert Atkinson The world's two fastest men on driving at 633 mph in Thrust2 - YouTube The world's two fastest men on driving at 633 mph in Thrust2 Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Oct 1, 2013 In this episode of Cisco BHTV Richard Noble and Andy Green discuss the challenges Richard faced when driving Thrust2 at over 600 mph.

October 4th marks the 30th anniversary of Richard Noble driving Thrust 2 to a then world record speed of 633.468 mph (1,019.47 kmh). When asked why he had done it, Noble replied: "For Britain and for the hell of it." To buy a DVD of the film please visit It was the realisation of a childhood ambition sparked when six-year old Noble saw 'Crusader', the boat built for land speed legend John Cobb, moored on a Loch Ness quayside. His journey from backseat day-dreamer to World Record breaker would be characterised by boundless energy, unswerving enthusiasm and the unshakeable belief that any obstacle could be ground down to become an opportunity. This faith was tested many times during the six years of the Thrust Project as Richard and a small team of engineers and volunteers overcame technical and financial challenges, freak floods, failures and a very public 180 mph (290 kmh) crash, to ultimately set a record that would remain unbeaten for fourteen years.

Since Donald Campbell reached 403.10 mph (648.72 kmh) with his iconic Bluebird CN7 in 1964, the Land Speed record had become the preserve of younger American racers, who challenged the existing rules and harnessed the might of surplus military jet engines to rapidly push the limit far beyond the 500 mph (800 kmh) mark. In 1970 Gary Gabelich achieved a two-way average speed through the Measured Mile of 622.407 mph (1001.666 kmh), in the spare and elegant 'Blue Flame' -- to this day the only successful rocket-powered Land Speed Record car. There the record stood, seemingly out of reach, until a Twickenham-based enthusiast championed the design and build of the UK's first jet powered Land Speed contender.

The Thrust2 team had several record attempts ruined by the weather: Bonneville in '81 was washed out, Bonneville in '82 was under two feet of water when they arrived, this prompted the team to discover the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, a dried out lakebed that offered 12 miles (20 km) of perfectly flat baked mud which perfectly suited their solid wheels. However, after a few runs it started raining. The team returned in 1983 and made 11 runs as they learned how the car handled at speeds above 600 mph. They had many more setbacks along the way including days of torrential rain, high winds and an engine surge which could have destroyed the jet. Fortunately the Avon was unharmed and the team was able to set the record of 633 mph on October 4th and return to the UK victorious. "This car is part of my family, it took over six years to get the Land Speed Record and I've been over 600 mph 11 times in it" said Richard Noble.

Richard went on to direct the Thrust SSC campaign which, in 1997, culminated in RAF fighter pilot Andy Green becoming the first person to break the sound barrier on land. Their record of 763.035 mph (1,227.985 kmh) still stands. Today Richard is leading The BLOODHOUND Project, a global education initiative focused on a 1,000 mph (1,609 kmh) land speed record attempt. The new car builds on the legacy of Thrusts 2 and SSC, combining space, aeronautic and Formula 1 technologies to cross the Measured Mile in just 3.6 seconds. "We could never have done Thrust SSC without Thrust2. It generated a huge amount of publicity and interest and resulted in a three-way challenge between ourselves, the McLaren F1 team and Craig Breedlove with his car Spirit of America -- Sonic 1.

The experience we gained fed into the Supersonic car programme and the subsequent success of Thrust SSC, with Andy driving, created this enormous global following that enabled us to start The Bloodhound Project." For the first time in Land Speed Record history, going fast is not the team's main objective. Instead it is to use BLOODHOUND to showcase science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the most exciting way possible, and inspire a future generation of engineers and technologists. Richard's childhood dream has now evolved into a multi-faceted, worldwide movement, with followers in over 220 countries, 5,500 UK schools using BLOODHOUND in the classroom and a small army of ambassadors sharing the excitement with audiences on five continents. Category What Happened in 1983 inc. Pop Culture, Prices and Events Townhouse 2 bed 1 bath $47,000 What Events Happened in 1983 UK Seatbelt use for drivers and front seat passengers becomes mandatory in the United Kingdom. Lebanon The U.S Embassy is bombed in Beirut, killing 63 people U.S.

Unemployment Rises in the US to 12 million the highest figure since 1941 UK IRA Bomb Exploded outside Harrods on December 17th during the pre Christmas Shopping Season United States Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 21. More Information for Hurricane Alicia. Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast during August of 1983 causing billions of dollars worth of damage to the region. The category 3 storm directly hit Galveston and Houston on the Gulf Coast and was the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States in 3 years. Hurricane Alicia had wind gusts of up to 127 mph and storm surges of up to 12 feet in height ravaged coastal neighborhoods. As a result of the storm 21 people were killed and about 3,000 homes were severely damaged. Ethiopia Ethiopia Appeals for world Aid for when the death toll reaches4 million World The Worlds Population is estimated at 4.72 billion Philippines The Philippines opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, assassinated Grenada The United States invades Grenada. More Information and Timeline for the U.S. invasion of Grenada 1.

The United States invades Grenada on October 25th of 1983. 2. Over 5,000 Marines were sent to the island after the government was overthrown in a bloody coup by a Cuban trained military force. 3. At the time, there were about 1,000 United States civilians in the country, most of them medical students. 4. President Reagan ordered the invasion citing the need to protect the American citizens in the country but also using it as an excuse to stem the tide of Communism in the Caribbean. 5. Overall, the U.S. invasion was a success despite encountering resistance. The U.S. civilians were rescued, the Cuban troops surrendered, and there were only 19 U.S. troop casualties in total. China China's Population reaches 1 billion Rhodesia / Zimbabwe Civil War breaks out in Zimbabwe U.S. A 5.2 earthquake hits Central New York U.S. Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph, driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

UK Due to the deployment of Cruise Missiles in the UK CND organises marches and rallies with over 200,000 attending. UK Brinks Mat warehouse robbery at Heathrow Airport making off with three tons of gold bars valued at $37.5 million Northern Ireland Mass prisoner breakout from Maze High Security Prison near Lisburn, Northern Ireland Lebanon A Terrorist attack by a suicide bomber destroys the United States Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 U.S. The first mobile phones, are introduced to the public by the Motorola Company. UK Breakfast TV starts in UK with the BBC Breakfast Time and TV-am Space Sally Ride on June 18th becomes first American woman in space on the Space Shuttle Challenger. UK The US deploys Cruise Missiles in Europe at the Greenham Common Air Force Base in England and Deploys Pershing Missiles in West Germany United States President Ronald Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). More Information for the Strategic Defense Initiative 1. U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) during a televised address in March of 1983. 2.

The proposed defense system was a highly advanced system that would rely on technology that had not yet been developed to intercept and prevent a nuclear missile attack on the U.S. by the Soviet Union. 3. The plan was called “Star Wars” by many critics who thought it impossible to create with the restrictions of the current capabilities of technology during the decade. 4. SDI began development in the following year under the Department of Defense but its funding ended after the Cold War ended and before anything could be completed. UK Margaret Thatcher wins landslide victory in General Elections in the UK Argentina Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín wins democratic elections to become the President of Argentina United States The children's show "Fraggle Rock" debuts on HBO as one of the premium cable network's first original programs. More Information and Timeline for Fraggle Rock. 1. Fraggle Rock premieres during January of 1983 on HBO. 2. The show was one of HBO’s first original programs and was created and produced by Jim Henson. 3. Fraggle Rock focused on the interactions between a group of muppets called Fraggles and other groups within their world. 4.

Many of the episodes featured stories that revolved around conflicts between the Fraggles and the other groups despite the fact that they all depended on each other to survive. 5. Fraggle Rock had a total of 96 episodes and ran until 1987. 6. The show’s creators had hoped it would promote concepts of world peace and it was shown around the world, in nearly one hundred different countries. Technology ARPANET officially changes to use the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet. Lotus 1-2-3 is released Thrust 2 world land speed record: 30 years on | Autocar Newsletter Thrust 2 world land speed record: 30 years on Richard Noble broke the land speed record 30 years ago. Then he led a team that went supersonic. Now the goal is 1000mph.

Thrust 2 held the land speed record from 1983 to 1997 Richard Noble runs the British team When driver Andy Green fires the rocket, he tells Steve Cropley, the car will generate 25,000lb ft of thrust It was beaten by Richard Noble's follow-up car, ThrustSSC Noble designed Thrust 2 with the help of John Ackroyd The land speed record was achieved in the Nevada desert Thrust 2 was powered by a single Rolls-Royce Avon jet engine Bloodhound uses a Eurofighter Typhoon engine to get it to 230mph before the rocket kicks in The first successful rocket tests for Bloodhound happened in October last year The 18-inch rocket was test-fired inside a hardened shelter Close Follow @@StvCr Today marks 30 years since irrepressible British businessman Richard Noble took back the world land speed record “for Britain”, driving his jet-powered Thrust 2 on Nevada’s Black Rock Desert at 633mph.

Since then, he has masterminded Andy Green’s supersonic record with Thrust SSC and now he and Green want to beat 1000mph in a new jet and rocket-powered car called Bloodhound in South Africa in 2015. Here, he explains how and why he keeps going. How important is your Thrust 2 experience to the Bloodhound project? It helps enormously. Thrust 2’s success created huge worldwide interest that created a new, three-way challenge between us, McLaren and the Americans that led to Andy Green taking the supersonic record in Thrust SSC and gave us an even bigger following. Our website became the fifth biggest in the world - bigger than all football and all motorsport. That encouraged us to proceed with Bloodhound. How did your interest in breaking records start? It was a childhood dream. I saw John Cobb’s boat, Crusader, break the water record on Loch Ness in 1952 and thought that would be a great thing to do. Years later, I built a car called Thrust 1, which was thoroughly dangerous. I sold it to a scrapyard for £175 and realised I was going to need some decent engineers to make this thing work.

About then, I met a terrific engineer called John Ackroyd and we started Thrust 2, on that initial budget of £175. How did it proceed? We started Thrust 2 in 1979 and it was a tremendous financial battle. We built it on the Isle of Wight and, for a while, we were so poor we couldn’t afford a phone. John Ackroyd had to talk to our suppliers from a public phone box. It took six years to raise the money and build it. Along the way, we ran the car with no body, setting a British record that still stands. That wasn’t a bad effort: two runs averaging 248mph through a measured mile on a course only 1.9 miles long. Then you went to Bonneville? We went first in 1981 and got it all wrong. We tried running solid wheels on the salt and it hammered like hell. But we managed one 500mph run and that showed the car’s potential. Then it rained. Back home, we had tremendous trouble with the City of London. I’d basically insured the desert against rain - and they were refusing to pay out.

They gave in just as we were about to tell the world about our problems in a press conference and the £75,000 cheque kept us going. You set the record at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, didn’t you? Yes, but we went back to Bonneville in ’82 first. It rained so much we didn’t even take the car off the trailer. That year we discovered Black Rock, a kind of huge mud flat, where we could lay a very long track. That was where we finally set the record in 1983. The car was brilliant, one of the very few record-breakers ever to achieve its design speed. We built it to do 650mph, and our quickest run was 650.88mph, which led to the record of 633mph. Were you aware of having to learn as you went? Oh, sure. When you chase a record like this, it’s an obsession - it has to be - but there’s also a long development process for both car and driver. You improve together, and that creates a bond between you.

Before the record, we established a routine of getting up very early, preparing the car and driving it in the early morning, a bit faster every time. Towards the end, our engineers realised the car worked better aerodynamically if we ran during the hotter part of the day. On the day we set the record, the crew knew it was coming, but I didn’t. It seemed like another day. What did the car handle like? You’re on a track about 50ft wide, driving by eye with a marker line on your right. Between zero and 300mph, the car’s all over the place, because although Thrust 2 has two tail fins, they don’t really work until around 300, where the car starts to settle. Between 300mph and about 550mph it’s a bit boring - more of the same, but faster. Then towards 600mph you start generating a shock wave off the front of the engine; it looks like a mist surrounding the car and is really something to see. It dawns on you that you’re going pretty fast. Do you feel in control at that speed? You do. Remember, you’ve been doing this a lot.

Your mental processes speed up so everything happens slowly. You’re actually quite relaxed, and even at 650 you see small details. I remember seeing the tyre tracks the timekeeper’s vehicle had left when it crossed the track earlier. Then you’re into the measured mile, for a few seconds, and then the fun starts. Slowing these cars down isn’t easy. You’ve overstressed and overheated the engine, so you’ve got to cool it for three seconds - one... two... three - before you shut off the fuel. That seems an eternity. Then you press the parachute button on the steering wheel. There’s an instant explosion behind and suddenly you’re decelerating at 6g, about 130mph a second. When you get to 400mph, it feels so slow you could get out and walk, but you have to wait for 200mph before you can use the wheel brakes. Then it’s time to get it turned around for the return. After 30 years, does driving Thrust 2 to the world land speed record still feel real? It feels very real. This car is part of my family.

We’ve had a long haul getting where we are today with Bloodhound, and this is where it began. What’s more, this car and I have been over 600mph together 11 times, and I loved every minute of that. If I had the chance to do it again, I’d grab it. Would I fancy doing 600mph again tomorrow morning? Absolutely. Let’s go... Thrust SSC - Media Zone Castrol and the Land Speed Record - A History of Commitment No oil company or sponsor in history has made a stronger or more successful commitment to the Land Speed Record than Castrol, whose drivers and cars have been at the forefront of record breaking competition for more than 75 years. Through the remarkable efforts of Richard Noble and his Rolls-Royce Avon jet-powered Thrust 2, Castrol still holds the record today, thanks to Noble's triumphant 633.468mph (1019.44kph) set on the Black Rock Desert in Nevada on October 4th 1983. Some years earlier, on March 19 1899, Charles Cheers Wakefield had set up an oil company.

Ten years later he produced a new lubricant that would revolutionise transport in the first half of the Twentieth century. He called the new oil Castrol. At the Brooklands racetrack in Weybridge on May 1922, Kenelm Lee Guinness squeezed 133.75mph (215.24kph) out of his 35Obhp V12 Sunbeam, to set a new Land Speed Record. This was the first time that the record was officially timed over two runs, one in each direction to alleviate favours of wind or gradient, but though it would be the last occasion on which it would be set on a closed circuit, it marked the first truly significant triumph for Castrol oil. Over the ensuing years the name of Castrol became synonymous with speed, endurance, success and above all reliability. 'If there was a better motor oil than Castrol, then I should use it,' said speed king Sir Malcolm Campbell with impeccable use of English in the advertisements of the day. There wasn't, and he didn't.

Instead, like his fellow racers Sir Henry Segrave, Ray keech and George Eyston he placed his trust in the brand he knew he could rely on, no matter what conditions prevailed for his numerous attempts. Guinness's record lasted only until July in 1922, when the Frenchman Rene Thomas swept ahead with 143.31 mph (230.62kph), only to find himself supplanted two years later as the Fastest Man on Earth by Englishman Ernest Eldridge in his monster chain-driven FIAT, 'Mephistopheles'. On the same tree lined road at Arpajon in France used by Thomas, Eldridge achieved 146.01 mph (234.97kph). That, too, would prove short lived. After a series of bitter disappointments in both Britain and Denmark, the indefatigable Campbell powered the same Sunbeam that Guinness had used to 146.16mph (235.2lkph) on the sands at Pendine in Wales that September, once again pushing Castrol to the fore.

A year later he improved to 150.76mph (242.6lkph), again on Pendine. The following year Henry Segrave entered the record breaking arena, again flying Castrol's colours. He had created a sensation three years earlier by becoming the first Briton ever to win The Grand Prix, as the French Grand Prix was known in those days. Still driving for Sunbeam, he squeezed by Campbell's mark on the sands of Southport with a speed of 152.33mph (245.l4kph) in March 1926. A month later the Welshman John Parry-Thomas took his crude but effective Higham Special 'Babs' to speeds of 169.30 (272.45) and 171.02mph (275.22kph) at Pendine, and he was preparing to do better still in March 1927, to recapture his record from Malcolm Campbell who had done 174.88mph (281.43kph) in the first of the true Bluebirds.

Segrave, meanwhile was bound for Daytona Beach in Florida with a revolutionary twin-engined Sunbeam which aimed for the unimaginable speed of 200mph (322kph). He was still on the Atlantic when he learned that Parry-Thomas had been killed when 'Babs' overturned at high speed, but he continued and set a sensational new record of 203.79mph (327.95kph). For the next decade the Land Speed Record would exclusively be the preserve of Castrol. In 1928 Campbell managed 206.96mph (333.O6kph) at Daytona, only to be pipped by Kech's mammoth three-engined 'White Triplex' at 207.55mph (344.Olkph). Then Segrave demonstrated his panache with 231.44mph (372.45kph) in 1929 with the 'Golden Arrow', a speed which Campbell could not match until 1931 when he managed 246.09mph (396.O3kph).

With his main rivals dead, Campbell then edged ever closer to his avowed goal of 300mph (483kph) - 253.97mph (408.7lkph) in 1932; 272.46mph (438.46kph) in 1933; 276.82mph (445.48kph) in 1935. Then, in September 1935, at the new venue of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, he finally achieved his dream with 301.13mph (484.60kph). After that, Campbell turned successfully to the Water Speed Record, again with Castrol lubricants, and it was left to George Eyston to battle against John Cobb's Railton in a gripping duel in 1937 and 1938.

With 'Thunderbolt', Eyston achieved 312mph (SO2kph) in 1937, 345.50mph (556.Olkph) in 1938, and then 357.50mph (575.32kph) later that year to wrest the laurels away from Cobb who had sped across the salt at 350.20mph (563.S7kph). Eyston had been similarly successful attacking records over longer distances with Hotchkis, Panhard and MG machinery, as well as his own Rolls-Royce diesel-engined 'Speed of the Wind', at venues such as Brooklands, Montlhery near Paris, and Bonneville. Thus were some of Castrol's most significant foundation stones laid, through courage, endeavour, disappointment, success and development during a period of sixteen glorious years when speed on land almost tripled and the technological demands on lubricants increased as dramatically.

With the jet era of the sixties, technology moved in a different direction, and when Richard Noble took aim at Gary Gabelich's thirteen year old record of 622.407mph (1001.639kph) that October day in 1983, Castrol again rode with a record breaker. Since Lee Guinness' success at Brooklands back in 1922 the Land Speed Record has officially been broken thirty six times, and on nineteen of those occasions Castrol has supplied the lubricants. Castrol holds the current record with Thrust 2, and for the past two years has funded the intensive aerodynamic research study that has enabled Thrust SSC to progress from drawing board to construction stage. In financial and technical partnership with Thrust SSC, Castrol keeps the faith with its illustrious heritage while looking firmly to an exciting and demanding future as it builds further on an unsurpassed reputation for initiative and courage in pushing back the frontiers of technology.

Thrustbrief 33 - 25th September 1997 Battle for Mach 1 On Land A NEW LAND SPEED RECORD FOR THE THRUSTSSC TEAM Subject to recognition by the FIA, Squadron Leader Andy Green today set a new land speed record of 714.144mph driving the twin Rolls Royce Spey engined jet car ThrustSSC on the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA. The speed, the average of two runs in opposite directions over the same measured distance within one hour as required by the rules governing the land speed record, pushed the record over 700mph for the first time and was the biggest increase in the record ever recorded. Team leader Richard Noble whose record of 633.468mph set in 1983 in Thrust2 was superceded by Andy Green, was delighted with the result. "This will be one of the greatest records ever set", said Noble immediately after the USAC timekeepers had confirmed the speeds. Earlier in the day, things had not looked promising when the planned 10:00am roll out was delayed by 2 hours because of uncertain weather conditions.

Winds and light rain showers gave cause for some concern, but after a two hour stand down, the world's press and TV returned to witness this historic event. There was no repeat of the computer and parachute problems of previous days and in two textbook runs, Green rewrote the land speed record history books in fine style. Running south to north on his first run, ThrustSSC set off at 13:30 looking smooth and stable as it accelerated up to the Mach number specified by the Engineering Team. Speeds were 697.950 for the kilo and 700.661 for the mile with SSC coming safely to a stop near the turnaround team. With the clocks still running, the team reported no problems and had Andy Green ready with almost 10 minutes to spare. The return run was even better with Andy later quoted as saying that the car seems more stable the faster it gets. Spectators, sponsors and press gathered around the PA system waiting for the USAC timers to announce the speeds but because of what they had just witnessed, they were already sure that it would be a record.

Times of 730.784 for the kilo and 728.008 for the mile confirmed their thoughts. The average of the two runs lifted both the kilo and mile records for the Thrust Team after years of hard work. Congratulations were quick to arrive, including those from the Queen and the Prime Minister. Pictures had been beamed around the world with the Digital sponsored Website finally taking over one million hits after getting close the previous day at 974,000. Five times record holder Craig Breedlove who was watching the day's events unfold sent his congratulations via Spirit of America Operations Manager Bill Breedlove who arrived to shake Andy Green's hand and confirm that they will bring their car out tomorrow to test their fuel system modifications. They expect runs of around 400mph with more serious attempts on Andy Green's new record at the weekend if all goes well and the weather holds. Although they haven't yet completed analysing the data from today's runs, it is likely that Breedlove will have the desert to himself tomorrow while the SSC Team plan more engineering runs to test systems before moving on to higher speeds.

Richard Noble said, "This is a fantastic achievement, but it is really only the beginning - we must move speeds up safely towards our ultimate goal - Mach 1." For Black Rock visits, please complete the accreditation forms on the web site media section and then follow the attendance instructions for each individual days racing Please contact the team using e-mail on thrust.news@battlement.digital.co.uk and indicate whether you would like to be added to the project's media database for updates and reports. All accredited journalists will be added automatically. Info line on 0839-888-850

Question: Who set a new land speed record in October 1983, driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA?
Answer: Richard Noble