The Bloodhound supersonic car wowed an audience of around 3,500 people at its first public run at England’s Cornwall Airport Newquay recently. In just eight seconds in its successful test, the car hit 210 miles per hour (mph) from a standing start. The team’s ultimate goal is to reach 1,000 mph and shatter the World Land Speed Record.
The Bloodhound SSC created by The Bloodhound Project completed two runs on the airport runway, with an acceleration of 1.5G. The public test took place 20 years after driver Andy Green set the World Land Speed Record that still holds today of 763.035 mph. Green said of the successful public run, “The car is already working faster and better than we expected. I cannot wait to go faster!” He also said this is the longest time they’ve run the vehicle at around 21.5 minutes.
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A Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine powered the Bloodhound SSC for the test, producing the combined output of 360 family cars, according to The Bloodhound Project. Runway wheels from an English Electric Lightning fighter helped the car travel rapidly down the runway.
Why build a supersonic car? According to The Bloodhound Project’s website, their primary goal is “to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.” They offer education programs, including free online resources, school visits, activities at their Technical Center, and national rocket car championships.
They’ve already motivated at least one student; Rolls-Royce engineer Jess Herbert said in the statement on the public test, “I was inspired to take up a career in engineering by the Bloodhound Project after the team visited my school and I then took up an apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce. I was lucky enough to have been at the unveiling of Bloodhound back in 2015…Being a Bloodhound Ambassador has given me the chance to share the story with the engineers of tomorrow and I hope that seeing the car in action will really help to bring the whole thing to life for them too.”
Images via Stefan Marjoram/The Bloodhound Project
