Jessi Combs breaks record for world's fastest woman on four wheels
15 Oct 2013|5,732 views
Jessi Combs has firmly established herself as the fastest woman on four wheels. She has surpassed the existing women's land speed record with a two-way average speed of nearly 393mph (632km/h) through a measured mile on the dry lakebed at the Alvord Desert in southeastern Oregon. That speed beat her own 344mph (554km/h) mark from yesterday, a speed that already surpassed the previous record of 308mph (496km/h) set in 1965 by Lee Breedlove, wife of former world land speed record holder Craig Breedlove.
Combs made a total of two runs in the Eagle. The rules require that a driver make two passes across a measured course, once in each direction, with the second pass completed within 60 minutes of the first. Officials then average the two speeds. On her first run, she passed through the measured mile at 354.931mph (571km/h), exiting the mile at 2:25pm. But she was not entirely pleased with that first pass. "The car ran great, but I kept getting pulled into the ruts from yesterday's runs," she said.
After coming to a stop at the south end of the lakebed, the team turned and serviced the Eagle so that Jessi could re-fire the jet engine to make her return run. At 3:15pm, she re-entered the measured mile and recorded a speed of 430.978mph (694km/h), for a two-way average of 392.954mph (632km/h).
The vehicle that Combs drove, the North American Eagle (NAE) Supersonic Speed Challenger, is considered a "car" because it has at least four wheels. But it is certainly not a car you would see on any road. The Eagle is a 14,000 pound, 50,000 horsepower converted F-104 Lockheed Starfighter jet that once served as a chase plane for the X-15 and SR-71, able to ultimately travel at more than 800mph (1287km/h).
Jessi Combs has firmly established herself as the fastest woman on four wheels. She has surpassed the existing women's land speed record with a two-way average speed of nearly 393mph (632km/h) through a measured mile on the dry lakebed at the Alvord Desert in southeastern Oregon. That speed beat her own 344mph (554km/h) mark from yesterday, a speed that already surpassed the previous record of 308mph (496km/h) set in 1965 by Lee Breedlove, wife of former world land speed record holder Craig Breedlove.
Combs made a total of two runs in the Eagle. The rules require that a driver make two passes across a measured course, once in each direction, with the second pass completed within 60 minutes of the first. Officials then average the two speeds. On her first run, she passed through the measured mile at 354.931mph (571km/h), exiting the mile at 2:25pm. But she was not entirely pleased with that first pass. "The car ran great, but I kept getting pulled into the ruts from yesterday's runs," she said.
After coming to a stop at the south end of the lakebed, the team turned and serviced the Eagle so that Jessi could re-fire the jet engine to make her return run. At 3:15pm, she re-entered the measured mile and recorded a speed of 430.978mph (694km/h), for a two-way average of 392.954mph (632km/h).
The vehicle that Combs drove, the North American Eagle (NAE) Supersonic Speed Challenger, is considered a "car" because it has at least four wheels. But it is certainly not a car you would see on any road. The Eagle is a 14,000 pound, 50,000 horsepower converted F-104 Lockheed Starfighter jet that once served as a chase plane for the X-15 and SR-71, able to ultimately travel at more than 800mph (1287km/h).
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