We all have already known about the unprecedented acceleration capabilities of the Bloodhound LSR, whether it’s about the 8 seconds needed to reach 328 km/h, or the lightning thrust of the odd machine to get the speed of 537 km/h in 20 seconds. But now, the entire project team has reached the phenomenal figure of 628 mph (1010 km/h)!
The purpose-built land speed record machine is now the seventh vehicle to exceed the 1000 km/h on land, and this performance was achieved in the Kalahari Desert racing track in South Africa. Powered by an EJ200 jet engine, which typically used in a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter plane, the Bloodhound LSR managed to cross the 5 miles (8km)mark in just 50 seconds.
Ian Warhurst, Bloodhound LSR’s owner, said: “Our speed objective for these tests was to reach 1,000 km/h. Hitting 1,010 km/h is a real milestone and shows just what the team and the car can achieve. With the high-speed testing phase concluded, we will now move our focus to identify new sponsors and the investment needed to bringing Bloodhound back out to Hakskeen Pan in the next 12 to 18 months’ time.“
The sensors installed on the Bloodhound LSR showed the airflow beneath the car went supersonic and stripped the paint from an area three meters back from the front wheels. The data generated from the runs will determine the size of the rocket that will be fitted to the car for the attempt to set a new world land speed record in 12–18 months’ time.
According to Bloodhound, the current EJ200 jet engine generates 9kN of thrust, roughly equal to 54,000bhp, which on its own, is not enough to set a new world land speed record of more than 763 mph as set by Thrust SSC in 1997. And this is why a Norwegian rocket expert Nammo is developing a monopropellant rocket that will produce the additional 60kN of thrust needed for Bloodhound to set a new land speed record on Hakskeenpan desert in South Africa.
Now, the program will continue as the Bloodhound driver Andy Green does not hide his desire to erase the 1997 record shelves. It will also beat Sonic 1, Blue Flame, Thrust2, Budweiser Rocket, and Sonic Arrow, which are the other vehicles to reach over 1000 km/h. The stated objective of the project is to cross the 1000 mph (1609 km/h).
