Seems like the right thread as it is a game and is certainly not mundane.
The latest serious challenger for the LSR is “Bloodhound” and it has recently been undergoing test in South Africa with an intention to hit 1000mph next year.
They’ve just updated that a 500mph trial run has been completed and aiming for 600mph soon. Then pack up, wipe down, crunch the numbers and back in 12/18 months for a serious attempt.
Of course it is all very silly but undeniably cool. The footage embedded at this link is really cool.
My quote of the day
I’ve been vaguely following this for years, since the project is based in my home city, and I also happened to be at the Cornish airfield they used for some early tests last year. They nearly had to shut down altogether not too long ago, for lack of funds, which would have been a crying shame given how close they are and the number of years and man hours sunk into it. Great to see it running.
I’ve also been following this for a few years. The driver, Andy Green, writes progress articles for the BBC News website. Money has been a constant issue and the project actually went into administration about a year ago, but it was bought out and rescued by a British businessman. It would have been a shame for it to have ended then, considering how far they had gotten.
From a quick Google, it looks like the current record is 763 MPH? A cool thousand would be a significant jump over that.
Indeed it would. 763mph was the culmination of the previous project, which was to break the sound barrier on land. 1,000mph is the next logical milestone (albeit an arbitrary one based on human interest in ‘round’ numbers). Andy Green is also the current record holder; the previous record-holding driver, Richard Noble (633mph with Thrust 2 in 1983) was also involved in the development of Thrust SSC (the current record holder) and also in the Bloodhound project I believe.
Man, when your “trial runs” are 500/600 mph you mean business.
Two bits in the video that I love, firstly the engine spooling up with a crackling roar, and the bit with the static camera and the car balsting past and peppering it with debris.
Indeed - if they achieve 1,000mph, it will be by far the biggest ever jump in both absolute and percentage terms - or at least I believe so following a quick perusal of the historical table here: Land speed record - Wikipedia.
I mentioned that the driver has written a series of progress articles about the project for the BBC News web site, the latest is here: Bloodhound diary: Racing at over 500mph