The stuff from which national pride and the spirit of adventure are created

By Mike Bishara

The most amazing engineering adventure of the 21st century is underway in earnest.
After three years of research and development, the construction of the ultimate race car BLOODHOUND SSC (supersonic car) has started.

The BLOODHOUND will make an attempt on the land speed record for unlimited designs with a target speed of more than 1000 miles per hour (1610 kilometres per hour)
UK runway trials are scheduled for the second quarter next year with an attempt on the world land speed record in late 2012 or early 2013 on Hakskeen Pan, Northern Cape, South Africa.  The equivalent of 4800 football pitches will be cleared for the event. 
This all adds up to a pretty massive structure, which will travel the equivalent of four and a half football pitches in one second, or 150 metres in the blink of an eye, is faster than a bullet fired from a Magnum 357, and travels its own length in three one-hundredths of a second.

Along for the ride are more than 4000 British schools who have signed up to the BLOODHOUND education programme, which provides curriculum-ready resources to help bring science and maths lessons to life for students.

The number is expected to grow dramatically once the car has been built.
Six million teachers worldwide will have access to the project via the group’s IT Partner, INTEL Corporation, and its “Skool” initiative.
“The primary objective of the project is to inspire the next generation to pursue careers in science, engineering, technology and maths by demonstrating how the subjects can be harnessed to achieve the impossible,” says BLOODHOUND project director, Richard Noble.
A land speed record contender car must have at least four wheels and be under the control of the driver. That’s it.
As a result, the cars designed to break records are all different – with different solutions to the common problems of going really fast.
“That’s why we’re able to share the designs, development and data from BLOODHOUND so openly. There is no need to be secretive about the technology. So it can, and will be, made available on the web – just as it happens,” he says.
The BLOODHOUND SSC has been designed to run at speeds up to 1,050mph and being jet and rocket powered has 133,000 effective horse power – about the same as 180 Formula One cars.
The BLOODHOUND team has found the expertise, vision, commitment and spirit of adventure from many organisations to help build the SSC.
Key among them are aerospace fuselage expert Hampson Industries, electronics, Formula One and aerospace company Cosworth, and the Advanced Composites Group which is creating the front section of the car.

Thanks to their support, 90 percent of the SSC’s primary structure is now in the manufacturing stage.
Hampson has 64 years experience supplying precision fuselages for the world’s leading aerospace organisations and unrivalled expertise with complex aluminium, steel and titanium structures.
Creating this supersonic prototype will test even their skills, Mr Noble reckons.
“The steel-lattice rear chassis not only has to contain 47,000lbs of combined thrust (equivalent to 133,000 hp) from the car’s Eurojet EJ200 jet and Falcon Project hybrid rocket, it must also cope with 30 tonne suspension loadings, air pressures on the bodywork of up to 13 tonnes per square metre, and substantial additional loads generated by the tail fin, air brakes and parachutes,” he says.
BLOODHOUND’s chief engineer Mark Chapman handed over the first technical drawings to Hampson last month so work on fabricating the rear chassis can begin.
Advanced Composite Group (ACG) is creating the front section of the car.
With a 30-year pedigree acquired in the demanding markets of Formula One, ocean-going racing yachts and aerospace, ACG is well positioned to deliver the composite design and manufacturing expertise required to build the vehicle.
Using ACG’s high performance “prepreg” materials, the group’s engineering division, Advanced Composites Engineering (ACE), will manufacture the entire front section of the car.
It will also construct the master models and tooling from which critical elements of the car’s bodywork and structural components, such as the monocoque and nose, will be produced.
The air intake and rear wheel fairings, both areas vital to the aerodynamic performance of the car and subject to extreme stress loadings, will likewise be made by ACE.
“It was clear very early on that we could build a strong and creative partnership with the ACG team. We valued their input from the start when they helped us optimise our designs to make best use of composite’s capabilities. We’re looking forward to working with them closely in the coming months as we move beyond the design phase and start to build,” says Mr Chapman.
Another key member of the BLOODHOUND SSC technical team is the renowned electronics, Formula One and aerospace company, Cosworth.
It is supplying BLOODHOUND with vital data logging and telemetry systems, as well as its state-of-the-art CA2010 F1 engine.
This will drive the Falcon rocket oxidiser pump via a BLOODHOUND-designed gearbox featuring gears by Xtrac and an AP Racing clutch.
“After three years of working on a virtual car, Hampson, Cosworth, ACG and our other technical partners are helping us make it a reality at last. It’s a great moment for a team which has invested the equivalent of 30 years getting the programme to this stage.”
The design team is still working on the size of BLOODHOUND SSC’s tail fin.
“The centre of gravity has moved back in the latest design, so we need a larger fin – about 70 per cent larger, we think – to give the car enough directional stability,” says designer Ron Ayers.
“We’ve got a rough shape to allow the team to do the detailed size and stress calculations but refining the aerodynamic design, including the fin size, airbrake design and suspension fairings, will be keeping the aero team busy for the next few months.”
“When it comes to the structure of BLOODHOUND SSC it’s easy to fall into the trap of forgetting its scale, all too easy when it’s on your screen and doesn’t look so big,” says chief engineer Chapman. 
“The Bloodhound SSC is getting on for 13m long, weighs close to 7 tonnes and has to deal variously with 220 kN of thrust, going through the sound barrier, 2.5+g acceleration followed pretty swiftly by 3+g deceleration, and going over the odd bump, it’s less racing car and more supersonic truck, says Mr Chapman.

For more information, visit
www.bloodhoundssc.com