Jaguar and the world land speed record holder Andy Green performed vital high-speed parachute tests as part of the company's ongoing technical support for this unique engineering adventure: creating a car that can cover 1.6km in just 3.6 seconds.
The jet and rocket powered car, which aims to surpass the current record of 1,228km/h before targeting 1,609km/h, has multiple braking systems including air-brakes and disc brakes. In addition, the driver has two back-up parachutes to ensure that the 135,000thp (thrust horsepower) vehicle will slow down before the end of its 19km track in Hakskeen Pan, South Africa.
After the first run, Andy must bring Bloodhound SSC to a halt exactly in front of Turnaround Team, who will be waiting to prepare the car for its return run in the opposite direction. This has to take place within one hour.
To test this system ahead of the car's first run, Jaguar, a technical partner to the project, fitted it to a F-TYPE Coupe R and ran it on a former military runway to over 290km/h before firing the parachute. Green, who was at the wheel for the test, said, "Bloodhound SSC is fitted with both airbrakes and parachutes to provide guaranteed stopping power under all conditions. Each of these systems is safety-critical and each needs to be tested to ensure it will work safely, every time it's needed."
