Land Speed Record costs?

[DanJR1]

how much did the whole Thrust SSC project cost in the end?

[ss_collins]

why you thinking of having a crack at it?

[DanJR1]

i was just wondering! it dont say on the website

[GTV27]

Richard Noble wrote a book called THRUST which detailed the costs (and funding sources), but I can't remember how much it totalled too. I was surprised however, how half arsed it was (no disrespect intended). It lurched from one calamity to another and they only just got the record before it all feel apart at the seams. Maybe somebody out there owns the book (I read a library copy) and can help.

[Hybrid]

I saw the aussie that held the speed record before the current on TV the other night. The Aussie reckoned that he was going to beat the new speed record. He was going to attempt 1300.
The amazing thing was IMHO his seemingly low budget.
2 million. While I know this is alot his previous record was done on ZERO. He said that every thing used was either scrounged or donated and all his help gave there time for zip.

[avsfan733]

most of those things are run on such a tight budget its incredible the speeds they achieve, so much garage built stuff

[JGM]

It cost £2.8 million over a six year period.

[chunder]

Rosco McGlashan is the guys name and he got up to about 650 before he ran out of weather and money.
The whole cost of SSC was about 9 million quid, including development and testing over I think a five year period.
And in my opinion they still haven't had anywhere near the recognition they deserve.
As for being half arsed, well I can tell you that they had sponsors pulling out and deals falling apart from the start, not their fault. The people that eventualy sponsored them were rallied up very late in the day. They also wasted a lot of cash going to Al Jafr, if they had gone to Black Rock from the start I reckon they would have done it better.
Anyway, why don't you try developing a supersonic car from scratch with no help from your allegedly world leading manufacturing country who didn't lend a finger! But who gave you all the right noises until it came to handing over some cash.
Then go out an beat every other bugger who had built one to it!! Including Breedlove and his mega money now sled!
As for faling apart well yes it was, the thing was being re-rivetted and rebuilt constantly. More a result of the hammer it puts on a car travelling at 770 mph on a dirt surface.
They are bloody total heroes in my book and should be given the credit they deserve for pushing the boundaries of engineering further than anyone has for a long time

[DanJR1]

there are 2 amounts there! one is £9 million and the other is 2.8 million. can anyone varify?:confused:

[JGM]

'One of the astonishing achievements of the ThrustSSC team was to capture the supersonic record on a budget of just £2.8 million over six years.'

Quote from Richard Noble's book 'Thrust'.

[chunder]

That doesn't take into account all the relevant costs that the project would have incurred had people been paid what they should have been I think.
People like G Force did so much work for nothing.

[Tim Falce]

I think the question was 'what did it cost' not what would it have cost. So we can assume £2.8m is correct if that is what Richard Noble stated. Or are we talking what it cost everyone concerned or what it cost Project Thrust

[chunder]

Was just trying to get across the point that whatever the cost it should have been funded easily instead of the team having to scrimp every week they were out there.
It so easily caved in, especially when Richard reversed over his laptop and nearly lost all the information.
Interesting point is that for a while their website was the most hit on the net during their weeks in Black Rock.

[DanJR1]

did spirit of America run suspension?cos from lookin at the pictures dont fink it did? i know thrust ran active suspension

[chunder]

Think Breedlove did run some kind of suspension but car was so different. He was gonna go up to a certain speed and then try and run it unmanned through the sound barrier.
Can't imagine you could run a car at 700+mph without suspension.
SSC ran an active ride system taht also controlled the pitch of the rear wing. This is what caused a lot of problems and a member of the team took umbridge to them locking the susopension into a certain rate and leaving the wing pitched to maxiimum downforce I think.

[DanJR1]

does the record count if its unmanned? cos then it may count as the fastest radio control car as well as fastest land speed record!

[JGM]

It would not count as a LSR if unmanned. In fact land based vehicles running on rails have gone considerably faster than Thrust SSC. In his book Noble refers to a rocket sledge track at Holloman, New Mexico which runs to Mach 9 - about 6500 MPH. The Thrust team carried out some tests with a model of Thrust on a military rocket sled system which was capable of running up to Mach 3.2. These rocket sleds are used by the military to closely observe the performance of shells and other ordnance in flight. As long ago as 1954 a US Air Force Colonel (John Paul Stapp) travelled at 632 MPH on a rocket sled but this wasn't an LSR either as it wasn't really under the control of the 'driver'. He was carrying out research into the effects of extreme acceleration / deceleration on the human body.