Bloodhound's 1,000 MPH Car Project Needs Money (theguardian.com) 72
AmiMoJo quotes the Guardian: Plans to build a British jet-powered car to speed at more than 1,000mph through the desert have hit quicksand, after the company behind the Bloodhound project entered administration. The dream of an ultra-fast car to break the land speed record led to the creation of Bloodhound Programme Ltd in 2007, with the idea of also engaging schools and students in engineering. Bloodhound has already built and tested a viable racing car to speeds of 200mph, but the project is in debt and needs to find £25m or face being wound up... Bloodhound said its programme had been a catalyst for research and development, as well as helping interest schoolchildren worldwide in science and engineering, with an associated educational campaign reaching more than 2 million children...
The planned car is a combination of jet, F1 car and spaceship that would cover the length of four and a half football pitches in a second.
The planned car is a combination of jet, F1 car and spaceship that would cover the length of four and a half football pitches in a second.
Nope. (Score:2, Insightful)
No, it doesn't.
I'm trying to figure out how to burn money less efficiently, aside from straight up burning it.
Re:Nope. (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, this seems like a silly way to burn money. The best way of "engaging schools and students in engineering" is to involve them in solving real world problems that will benefit many people. This isn't doing that.
Re: (Score:1)
The best way of "engaging schools and students in engineering" is to involve them in solving real world problems that will benefit many people. This isn't doing that.
Sure it is. With a fleet of these cars I can finally open up a home delivery taco business. Without this car, the taco shells always get soggy by the time they arrive.
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly.. What is the point of this? to go faster, so someone can try to go faster yet?
How about they try solving some real-world problems instead?
25 million pounds could go a long way addressing some of the real-world issues brits face (if they have a hard time figuring out what to do instead, just send it to the N.H.S.. i'm sure they can do somethign better then burn it up on a runway).
impressive (Score:3, Informative)
"Bloodhound has already built and tested a viable racing car to speeds of 200mph"
I think a couple rich guys in my neighborhood bought cars capable speeds of 200mph, with factory warranties.
Re: (Score:1)
Yeah, this is silly. Cars like the Green Monster and Spirit of America reached more than 600mph back in the 1960s.
This Bloodhound group might be better served visiting the old folks home and talking to the guys who worked on those cars.
Re: (Score:1)
You are aware that the lead designer and project manager are the same people that worked on ThrustSSC and currently hold the land-speed record. I think they have some knowledge in this field.
Re: (Score:2)
Wow.
Re: (Score:2)
No, actually I wasn’t aware of that - thank you. Adding that particular bit of information might’ve made for a more useful summary than stating that they had a functional car which could exceed 200 mph... which does not exactly put them in an exclusive club.
Now that I’ve read the article*, though, I’m somewhat surprised that the passing of 50+ years has not resulted in more impressive speed gains (the now-21-year-old record is 763mph). I guess it does point out the engineering diffic
Re: (Score:1)
" I think they have some knowledge in this field."
Apparently they don't have any knowledge on how to fund their own project (or how you fund first, research later), something most PHD students learn right at the beginning of their studies.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, but were they jet powered?
Re: Not from me please (Score:1)
You must be one of those people who think money disappears when it gets spent.
That if it gets spent on something like this, it can never be spent on something different.
Here's a clue: that money goes to engineers and other staff to design and build the thing. They are then capable of spending that money themselves on anything they want, less the amount that goes back to the government as taxes.
Re: (Score:1)
That's fine, but it begs the question. We need a car that goes 1000 mph why, again?
A horizontal rocket? (Score:2)
How is the goal anything different than an existing rocket with wheels on its side?
Re:A horizontal rocket? (Score:4, Insightful)
How is the goal anything different than an existing rocket with wheels on its side?
It stays on the ground. That is the hard part. It is easy to make a rocket go fast. It is hard to control it.
At 1000 mph, even a small amount of airflow under the car body will lift it off the ground, and in a fraction of a second you are completely airborne. Energy goes up as the square of velocity, so at 1000 mph, you have a hundred times as much energy as at 100 mph. The result is some spectacular crashes.
Re: A horizontal rocket? (Score:2)
Still, rockets on wheels are a done deal, over 500 MPH decades ago, so why bother going to 1000? It's a useless means of land transport
Re:A horizontal rocket? (Score:4, Insightful)
Agreed. I like motorsports and I like speed records, but I could never get excited about those things... it's just a rocket with wheels. Not a car.
SR-70 Blackbird has wheels, it can roll on the ground very well, but I wouldn't call it a car. A car is propelled by drive wheels. If your vehicle is jet propelled and the wheels don't do anything except get dragged along, it's not a car.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
High probability of crashing?
4 and a half football pitches per second (Score:2)
What does that translate to in either m/s, f/s or NFL fields per second.
The summary is confusing with multiple different numeric systems. MPH, Football Pitches, Pounds...
Re: (Score:2)
What does that translate to in either m/s, f/s or NFL fields per second.
. . . and instead of football pitches, I'd like to see it baseball pitches . . .
Re: (Score:2)
Your comment is confusing. Could you please rephrase it in terms of libraries of congress per furlong?
Re: (Score:2)
Your comment is confusing. Could you please rephrase it in terms of libraries of congress per furlong?
A Beowolf Cluster of Hot Grits of course.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: 4 and a half football pitches per second (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Whooosh!
Aren't we past this silly non-sense? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a huge jet turbine with wheels attached. Big fat hairy deal.
I'm sure that was cool sometime in the early sixties or something, but come on, seriously?
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, it's a jet and a rocket. The jet isn't fast enough.
Re: Aren't we past this silly non-sense? (Score:1)
Meh (Score:3)
If it's not driven by the wheels it's just a low flying aeroplane.
P.S. A story about a financially infeasible car - where's Rei?
Re: Meh (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Why the scare quotes, you prick?
I’m having trouble parsing this story (Score:4, Funny)
Could someone rephrase it in terms of a car analogy?
Re: I’m having trouble parsing this story (Score:3)
It's like a car, but without purpose or good fuel economy. Instead of having an engine with pistons in cylinders, the whole vehicle is like a piston without a cylinder being pushed from the underside.
Re: I’m having trouble parsing this story (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
yes I did major in physics and worked in the field for years.
my description of this pointless project is accurate. there is zero need for a mach 1.5 rocket on wheels on this planet. there is need for advances in rocket propulsion in aerodynamic and ballistic flight, however. money should be spent on that, not this farce. good thing it's getting shut down.
Re: (Score:2)
Could someone rephrase it in terms of a car analogy?
Elon Musk is taking preorders on the next generation Tesla Roadster, with a peak speed of at least 1000mph.
He promises delivery next summer.
Stop! Hide this from Elon. (Score:2)
Anytime now he is going to tween Tesla Model FU that will go 2000 mph and it will cost 20,000 $ and it will ship in 2020, reservation 2000$ starts tomorrow. "This is the next level of digital, not 1s and 0s, but 2s and 0s, because we are twice as good. 2000 mph, 20,000$ price, 2020 shipping, 2000 for preorder... See ? All 2s and 0s!"
Supersonic (Score:2)
Re: Supersonic (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
If it can't steer with wheels or follow a road, (Score:2)
than it is not a car. It is a broken jet plane that can't takeoff.
Re: If it can't steer with wheels or follow a road (Score:1)
Or Do Something Practical? (Score:2)
Not only would they building a car with limited usefulness, it's calibrated in US-CU and not Metric.
It's all about being infatuated with an idea, a number.
Re: Or Do Something Practical? (Score:1)
Sounds painful... are they full-scale??
railgun (Score:2)
base it on a railgun
good for 5000 mile an hour
why stop at 1000
Re: railgun (Score:1)