Zero to 1,050 mph in 42 Seconds

Engineers designing a supersonic car unveiled a full-size replica of the hybrid jet/rocket-propelled vehicle anticipated to reach a speed of 1,050 mph.

Bloodhound SSC, a project to build the ultimate Land Speed Record car, gave the public its first view of a 1:1 scale model today at the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire, England.

It is the result of three years of aerodynamic study using computational fluid dynamics to perfect the shape that will maintain stability at supersonic speeds.

The car will contain both a Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine and a rocket engine (the largest hybrid rocket designed in Europe), generating a combined thrust of 47,500 lb. (or 212 kN of force), the equivalent of 180 Formula One racing cars.

The design team says the Bloodhound will take driver Andy Green, a fighter pilot with the RAF, from 0 to 1,050 mph in 42 seconds.

Last week's engine test was deemed a success.

A preliminary desert run, expected to max out at 800 mph, will be performed in 2011, before a full test is conducted the following year.

"There's a feeling in the team that everything is starting to become very real and that Bloodhound SSC no longer exists just on a computer screen," said chief engineer Mark Chapman.

The Bloodhound is about 42 feet long, nine feet high and two feet wide, with a wheelbase of about 29 feet and a mass of more than 14,100 pounds (fully fueled).

The current land speed record is held by ThrustSSC, a twin turbofan-powered car (also driven by Green) which broke the sound barrier, reaching 763 mph at Black Rock Desert, Nevada on October 15, 1997.

That car, and the previous record-holder, were built by Richard Noble, the project director for Bloodhound SSC.

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