Achieving supersonic speed in the car is a task of incredible difficulty. Nonetheless, there remain some people with the appetite and the means to attack a problem like this, and Australia’s fastest man Rosco McGlashan is one of them.
Rosco McGlashan wants to make the new speed record among land vehicles with the Aussie Invader 5R rocket-car, currently being built in Australia. McGlashan will reportedly pilot the 16-meter long nine-tonne steel-framed vehicle to its target top speed of 1,000 mph (1,609 km/h).
Aussie Invader 5R was created by McGlashan in collaboration with renowned rocket designers Bob Truax and Peter Beck of New Zealand’s Rocket Lab. It is equipped with a single bi-propellant rocket motor, producing 62,000 lbs of thrust (about 200,000 horsepower).
According to the calculations of the developers, the Aussie Invader 5R can accelerate from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in approximately 1.1 seconds. Developers believe that this unique machine is capable of breaking the World Land Speed Record and accelerating from 0 – 1,000 mph (1,600+ km/h) in just over 20 seconds. In that time, the car will burn 2.8 tonnes of liquid propellant and oxygen at more than 1000 degrees Celsius. At full speed, it will travel a mile in around 3.5 seconds.
Currently, Thrust SSC holds the world land speed record, set on 15 October 1997, when it achieved a speed of 763 mph (1,228 km/h).
Aussie Invader 5R runs on four 35-inch wheels – made of solid aluminum with no tires – each weighing 140 kg (309 lb) and rated for rotational speeds up to 10,200 rpm. It will take more than 5 km to reach top speed, and when it comes to slowing down, more than 13 km will be required to stop. The deceleration will be achieved through a multi-stage deployment of high-speed hydraulic air brakes, mid-speed parachutes, and low-speed disc brakes.
The location for the record is yet to be finalized; however, initial test runs will likely take place in the Queensland or Western Australian desert.
In recent years, another purpose-built land speed record machine has been built in the UK – Bloodhound SSC – but now the European project has been abandoned for financial reasons.
