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Image Copyright: Bloodhound

Bloodhound SSC Project

The Bloodhound project is a scientific project aimed to set a world land speed record of 1,000 mph. Yes, you read it right, a 1,000 mph land speed record! On 19th July, 2010, the Bloodhound team showcased a life size Show car after 3 years of aerodynamic study and 10 design evolutions to perfect the shape and aerodynamic profile of the car.

By 2012, a step to the goal of 1,000mph is a test run in desert to achieve 300 mph while powered by a jet engine, EJ200. Check it out after the jump.

The BLOODHOUND Project today announces the achievement of significant milestones in this iconic engineering and education adventure:

• 1.5 million school children in the BLOODHOUND Education Programme
• Life size Show Car makes world début at Farnborough
• 50% of the fuselage build now secured thanks to key product sponsor Hampson Industries
• Three new sponsors sign up
• EJ200 jet engine, runs as good as new

The BLOODHOUND Project is a World Land Speed Record attempt aiming to inspire young people to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM subjects) by show-casing them in the most exciting way possible – by building a car capable of reaching 1,000 mph.


Today the BLOODHOUND team unveils, for the first time, the complete life size Show Car, which at 12.8m, is longer than four Minis parked end to end.

The 1:1 replica is the result of three years of aerodynamic study and ten exhaustive design evolutions to perfect the shape and aerodynamic package of the planet’s ultimate car.

World class aerodynamic research using Computational Fluid Dynamics was conducted by Swansea University, MathWorks and EPSRC, and at key moments the Project utilised more computing power than the Met Office (courtesy of IT Partner Intel). The BLOODHOUND aerodynamic team, lead by Ron Ayers, generated millions of mathematical equations to investigate how the air around the car would react as the car accelerates to its maximum design speed of 1,050 mph. Using this information they then designed the an efficient shape that would be stable at supersonic speeds, and controllable a sub-sonic velocity.

The Show Car started life as 5 m3 polystyrene blocks, which were then cut into bucks and moulds using 3 axis machining by Baker Patterns of Birmingham. Fibreglass and resin was then laid over the bucks in a process that took many thousands of painstaking hours to hand finish. The work was done by CHW Composites and Mike Horne Design on the Isle of Wight, who previously worked on ThrustSSC – still the only car in the world to have officially gone supersonic. The BLOODHOUND model was then given the six coats of Akzo Nobel aerospace paint by Jon Benton and his team at Aero-Composites, who are more used to painting military and civil aircraft than forty- four foot long ‘streamliners’. The 950kg showcar, which separates into three sections, was then transported to Farnborough by hauliers G&J Lockwood Ltd.

Last week the Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine that will be used during the landspeed record-attempts successfully completed a rigorous test session.

The EJ200 will be used to power BLOODHOUND SSC from 0 to 300 mph during its desert runs in 2012. Prior to being put on show at FIA, it was driven to full power on reheat in a series of controlled bench-tests, producing a maximum thrust of 90 kN (20,000 lbf) with no problems.

Having completed its life as a development engine for the Typhoon programme, the 1.5 tonne engine is now on loan to the BLOODHOUND Programme. It will partner the largest hybrid rocket ever designed in Europe to produce a combined thrust of 212 kN (47,500 lb) – the equivalent to 180 F1 cars – and propel driver Andy Green from 0 to 1,000 mph in 42 seconds.

“Seeing our EJ200 run on the test bed was an amazing sight, and marks a significant milestone in the development of BLOODHOUND SSC.” Said Mark Chapman, Chief Engineer, “There's a feeling in the team that everything is starting to become very real and that BLOODHOUND SSC no longer exists just on a computer screen.”


Bloodhound SSC Project

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