My gratitude goes to Andy Green for helping with the 4 or 5 bits of this video which I could not understand. Thanks Andy!
Who: Andy Green
What: Going supersonic on land
When: 13th October 1997 at 11:23 AM
Where: Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA
Why: Because they dared to do what everyone said could not be done!
Thrust SSC's 61st run was the first properly supersonic run which Thrust SCC did, going beyond the target speed of 715mph indicated (750mph true) to 725mph indicated (760mph true).
This was a warm-up for the main event. Later that same day the Thrust team attempted to create the first supersonic World Land Speed Record. To set a World Land Speed Record you need to complete 2 runs in opposite directions within 60 minutes. On the first run a double parachute failure created a 2 mile overrun requiring a long tow back to the start line, Andy was about 40 seconds too late coming back across the measured mile.
2 days later they tried again and were successful, setting the first ever supersonic World Land Speed record:
763.035 mph
1227.723 km/h
Mach 1.020
For the whole story search for "Supersonic Dreams", a BBC documentary following the last stages of Project Thrust.
1 окт 2024
