The bloodhound supersonic car will be racing at high speed in October



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Legend of the mediaIan Warhurst: "South Africa is waiting for the bloodhound"

The Bloodhound supersonic car will test at high speed in October.

The team behind the rejuvenated project said it has the funding to test the vehicle at a speed of 500 to 600 mph.

This should provide the technical data needed to send Bloodhound through the sound barrier and break the ground speed record (763 mph, 1,228 km / h) in 2020.

Trials will be conducted on Hakskeen Pan, a dry lake bed in northern Cape Town, South Africa.

The UK-run company was rescued from the administration by Yorkshire entrepreneur Ian Warhurst in December.

He has spent the last few months reorganizing the Bloodhound business, including moving his technical headquarters from Bristol to Berkeley in Gloucestershire.

Mr. Warhurst has now engaged the team in what he calls achievable goals. And in response to that decision, he personally subscribes to the October trials.

"This is a new territory for the Bloodhound project," he told reporters. "Six months ago, it all seemed very difficult to achieve, but it is a reality now, we are paying money as we speak, we are financially committed to go (to South Africa)."

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LSR Bloodhound

Legend

The high speed trials will be held at Hakskeen Pan, a dry lake bed in northern Cape Town.

The ground speed record was set by the Thrust Super Sonic Car (SSC) in 1997, in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, USA.

The pilot on this occasion was RAF pilot Andy Green and he will also be at the helm of Bloodhound.

He uses the new car at low speeds (200 mph) but he now wants to stretch the performance of the vehicle, to increase the pace between 300 and 500 mph.

This will stress the Bloodhound systems. The team will learn to go fast, but just as important, to slow down, using a combination of air brakes and parachutes.

In addition, 400-500 mph are the area where the stability of Bloodhound should go from regressing the interaction of its wheels with Hakskeen playa sludge to control the aerodynamics of the car.

It is expected that the grip of the wheels decreases faster than the aerodynamic forces allow, which means that the driver is almost certain to experience a very delicate handling period.

"The car will probably have the impression of rolling on a plate of ice," said the Green Wing Commander. "It is at this point that we will discover how well we have configured the car, it will be an important experience to be able to control the car over its entire speed range."

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Legend of the mediaAndy Green in mid-speed traction: "It feels like riding on a sheet of ice"

The tests will see the car running without its rocket engine installed; it will be powered solely by a Rolls-Royce Eurofighter jet engine.

This obviously limits the maximum speed that can be reached this year, but if the weather conditions are favorable, it is quite possible that Bloodhound can reach more than 600 km / h.

Aerospace partner Nammo will wait for the test results.

The Norwegian company needs to determine the precise configuration of the rocket engines needed to break through the sound barrier and reach 800 km / h after Bloodhound's return to Hakskeen in 2020.

But the return of next year will depend on the arrival of new funds in the team.

Commercial Director Ewen Honeyman is confident that when potential sponsors witness a high-speed Bloodhound next October, they will be eager to get involved.

And pointing out the white and bare body of the car, he said: "For the first time, we offer a sponsorship of the title and the livery." This is similar to the stadium designation rights that football clubs now offer to major sponsors.

Most sponsorship conversations are currently potential digital partners. They were interested in either data engineering or media distribution, Honeyman said.

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LSR Bloodhound

Legend

As the car moves faster, its wheels will start to float to the surface – like the hull of a boat

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Legend of the mediaLow speed tests (200 mph) were conducted in 2017 – the only time the car has been running

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