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The following article was wriiten by Matthew Abbots (age 12) for a local youth newspaper Thrust SSC is the world’s fastest and only supersonic car. I recently met its driver Andy Green at the Peterborough Motor Club where he gave a talk about his experiences. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to ask him some questions. Andy holds the official one mile land speed record of 1,227.985 km/h (763.035 mph). He reached this incredible speed on the 15th October 1997 in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA in Thrust SSC (Super Sonic Car).
Land speed records started in 1898 when a Frenchman, Count Gaston De Chasseloup-Laubat drove an electric car to the giddy heights of 39.24 mph in Archeres near Paris. In 1983 Richard Noble in Thrust 2, reached 633 mph. Richard’s record had stood for 14 years, but now he wanted to achieve the ultimate goal in land speed records and break the sound barrier and go supersonic. Richard knew that the driver of the fastest car in the world was going to have to be very special. Rather than advertise he just let news of his project and quest for a suitable driver spread. This was the first test – the driver’s own initiative! Some 30 people applied and they were all pilots or drag racers. The next step was to whittle them down and the Centre of Human Sciences in Farnborough were asked to help with this process. Finally after many hours of tests, Andy Green, an RAF Pilot was chosen to drive Thrust SSC.
Everyone said that reaching supersonic speed couldn’t be done in straight line racing because it was so very hard to get the design right. They had to find the safest shape because there were problems keeping the car on the ground at such speeds. If the front of the car lifts even by as little as one degree, all the weight shifts and the car will flip over backwards. If the nose comes up you are going to be flying! The forces acting upon it at maximum speed will be in excess of 40 times the force of gravity. It proved very difficult to get the car’s aerodynamics right. As well as building an accurate 1/25th scale model, information from computer projections of how the car would run were also used to help design the car. After many months of trying, the car was finally ready in 1996. Thrust SSC is a huge car, 54 feet long and 12 feet wide weighing 11 tons including 1 ton of fuel. The car has two Rolls-Royce Spey 202 Jet engines, each generating 26,800KG (50,000lb) of thrust. Not your average touring car engine !
It was decided that the best place to test the car would be in the Nevada dessert where Richard achieved his earlier record. However, there was only a two-month period when the car could be trialled in Nevada but they missed that slot due to technical difficulties. So they had to go to Jordan instead. Unfortunately, there were problems with the rear wheel steering because it was so unstable. They were just ready to try out the car when it rained! The Team finally went back to Black Rock Desert Nevada in mid 1997.
There was also another team working towards the same achievement in America. The car was called The Spirit of America and was to be driven by Craig Breedlove. Many people thought that Breeedlove’s team was going to succeed and be the first to go supersonic. In September 1997, Breedlove also went to the Black Rock Dessert and began testing his car. For the first time in history two cars were racing at once, Andy Green of Great Britain and Craig Breedlove of the USA. However, Breedlove’s team soon ran into problems due to the car being so unstable and they encountered many problems, even getting their truck and trailer stuck in the mud and having to be pulled out by the Thrust team! On the other hand, Thrust SSC could run in any weather and it was very stable. By mid September Thrust had reached 714.144 mph. This was another milestone for the team. They had broken the land speed record and now had built and designed the fastest car in history but the team still had not reached their final goal- that of supersonic speed.
Finally, on 15th October 1997 they went supersonic -reaching speeds of 763mph (mach 1.02). This was the ultimate achievement. Not only this but it had all been accomplished on a shoe string budget. Most of the team were volunteers who worked incredibly long hours, often 15 hours a day on a project that took 15 months to complete. Andy said that “British engineering, determination and skill was what had built the car.”
When asked what was the most exhilarating out of air speed and land speed, Andy said that they are both very different but as a day job he prefers flying Harrier Jump Jets for the RAF, but for the shear thrill of speed he thought land speed was better!
Andy Green’s record has remained unbeaten for the last 7 years. Although Andy has not attempted to break his record, he said that he hopes it will one day be broken.
Andy gave a great talk, he was very entertaining to listen to. Peterborough Motor Club, used this event to help raise £115 for St . Raphael Charity Matthew 2004
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