(The links in the newsletter probably don't work but just search Bloodhound LSR on the various social media sites or on Google/DDG to find the home site and go from there)
Bloodhound LSR: High speed testing begins
You forwarded this message on Fri 18/10/2019 17:36
Bloodhound LSR
Fri 18/10/2019 17:14
A message from Ian
It’s official: Bloodhound LSR has arrived in South Africa! If you haven’t already seen the images, look on social media and you can see videos and photographs of the car being driven across the desert and unloaded from its truck.
To say I’m excited would be an understatement – I may only have been actively involved with the project for months, but I’ve followed it for years and I’m as thrilled as the rest of the Bloodhound team to have finally brought the car to Hakskeen Pan for high speed testing.
The team have, of course, taken this in their stride. But that doesn’t diminish the enormity of what they have achieved over the last 6 months. There was a huge amount of work to do to convert the car that ran at 200mph on a runway in Cornwall into one that is capable of reaching speeds of 500mph or more on a desert track – and stopping again safely – in South Africa.
I also want to shine a spotlight on the team in South Africa. They, too, have risen to the challenge and given us amazing support, despite several previous false starts. When we told the Northern Cape Provincial Government of our intentions, they didn’t hesitate to re-engage, and have worked quickly and efficiently to help us finalise agreements and then mobilise the local workforce to help us clear and prepare the track.
And finally I’d like to thank our current partners and previous sponsors that have helped us get to this point. We literally couldn’t have done it without you.
You can read the latest news about our progress in this newsletter. Members of our Supporters’ Club will then get regular updates on what happens in South Africa, so please spread the word and get your friends and family to sign up at https://www.bloodhoundlsr.com/bloodhoun ... ters-club/
If you want more frequent updates, including vlogs and blogs from the desert, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
So, this is it. Thank you, as ever, for your continued support. We hope you enjoy following our progress in South Africa as Bloodhound LSR enters the transonic zone for the first time.
Yours,
Ian Warhurst, CEO, Grafton LSR Limited
PS Please forward this newsletter on to anyone you know who might be interested in the project. And if you didn’t get this directly from us, you can sign up to receive it, along with supporter-only invitations and offers, on the Supporters page of our website.
You can also keep up to date by following Bloodhound LSR on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
In this issue
Bloodhound arrives in South Africa
Bloodhound meets the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
NEW bloodhound shop
Preparing the car – final touches
Preparing the track and desert camp
Andy Green’s diary
Find your name on the fin
Join our Business Supporters’ Club
How has Bloodhound inspired you?
Videos to watch
Meeting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
On the last day of their tour of South Africa, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended a garden party at the UK High Commission to showcase links between the UK and South Africa. The Bloodhound team were kindly invited to attend the event by Emma Wade-Smith, Trade Commissioner for Africa, to help represent UK achievements in science, technology and innovation.
Ian Warhurst, Bloodhound LSR CEO, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity to bring the royal couple up to date with our progress, our plans for high speed testing and the inspirational work of the Bloodhound Education charity.”
New Bloodhound Shop
Buy new Bloodhound LSR merchandise in our new web shop - launched today!
Visit the shop
Preparing the car – final touches
The engineering team has been hard at work doing the final touches to the Bloodhound LSR car before it gets loaded into a plane and flown to South Africa. Although ‘touches’ is a misleading term here – these are vital tasks, every one of which is important to ensure we have the best possible chance of successfully completing the high speed test runs.
Work done since our last newsletter includes:
Installing the engine, fitting the upper chassis and adding composite body panels.
Dry cranking the engine – Running the EJ200 jet engine through the start-up sequence and turning it over with no fuel or ignition to confirm the engine and all ancillary systems, fuel and electrics are correctly installed and ready to use. Watch the video.
Adding the GPS speedometer and digital timer, these vital tools have been wired into the cockpit.
Installing the air brakes – These will withstand loads of 5 tonnes /50kN air pressure per square metre. They’ll be locked in place at specific angles during high speed testing and then will be moveable during the record-breaking runs.
Attaching the 3D printed titanium nose tip – the ‘pointy end’ is in place!
The tail fin was wrapped with all the names (see below), baked with a clear coat and fitted with a forward and rear camera system.
Preparing the track and desert camp
There has been a huge amount of work going on in South Africa to prepare the Desert Tech Camp and the track itself. The camp measures around 50m × 50m and will include all the equipment and stores needed for the safe running of the car. A team of 30 engineers and support staff will be based there for four to five weeks from mid-October to mid-November.
Meanwhile, members of the local Mier community have returned to do a final clearance by hand of a strip of desert measuring 10 miles (16 kilometres) long and 500m wide to make sure it is as safe as possible for the high speeds runs.
Find your name on the fin
As we’ve previously confirmed, all the ‘Names on the fin’ that were paid for before Grafton LSR Ltd bought the car will be in place for high speed testing in South Africa. Grafton LSR inherited the database from the Bloodhound Programme Ltd and has had no responsibility for the content.
Find your name by using the link below to download a high res PDF and use the ‘search’ function to scan.
Find my name on the tail fin.
Join our Business Supporters’ Club
A range of Bloodhound sponsorships are available for large national or global businesses, ranging from SME level to full livery sponsorship. Visit our Sponsorship page for more information.
For everybody else, we offer our Bloodhound LSR Business Supporters’ Club, which is specifically designed for enthusiasts who wish to get involved below the minimum SME sponsorship level. Through this you can support this iconic project through a range of packages to suit your preferred donation level, entitling you to benefits including lock-up logos, website promotion and access to a standard image library.
How has Bloodhound inspired you?
Over the years we’ve heard some wonderful stories about how schools, clubs and individuals have been inspired by Bloodhound. The Bloodhound Education charity is keen to hear from you if you, or anyone you know, have chosen to study STEM subjects or follow a STEM-related career because of Bloodhound. They would also like to hear about school clubs inspired by Bloodhound.
Please email enquiries@bloodhoundeducation.com with your stories and photos, and let them know if you’re happy for someone to get in touch about putting your inspirational story on their website.
And finally – watch the videos!
We’ve had lots of visitors over the last month, including several film crews. If you’d like to know even more about what’s going on, here’s a selection of videos and interviews you may like to check out:
Bloodhound supersonic car set for high-speed trials (BBC; 2:13mins) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49891569
Bloodhound trials will test design assumptions (BBC audio interview with Mark Chapman, chief engineer; 8:41)
Bloodhound LSR gears up for South Africa (ITV News West Country; 1:25)
Bloodhound LSR – Behind the Scenes (Scarf and Goggles; 14:25)
Bloodhound LSR reaches final stage of build (PES Media; 5:27)
It is a great shame that we have to go to South Africa but that offered the best overall package when it was discovered back in 2009-12, I'm not sure exactly. Even at Newquay 2 years ago it was an impressive site although the colour scheme has changed since then. I first got interested in Speed Records in Donald Cambell's days and I've been hooked ever since!!