Hakskeenpan? What on earth is that? Or where is it? This is yet another post about something not in Gauteng but it is an awesome event for South Africa; the attempt to break the World Land Speed Record by the British 'rocket' car, the Bloodhound SSC. And not just break the current world record set in the USA in 1997 of 763 mph (the sound barrier) but to smash the 1 000 miles per hour barrier. That is over 1 600 kms per hour!
Bonneville Salt Flats in America has been the location where most of the previous records have been set although the Englishman Sir Donald Campbell driving Bluebird in 1931 set a new record right here in SA. At Verneukpan in the Northern Cape. For this attempt, numerous sites around the world were examined in minute detail and the winner was? Our very own Hakskeenpan located in the Northern Cape a little bit south of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
Factors that decided in favour of SA included: the weather, the Pan's unique alkali composition which is kinder to the forged aluminium wheels, the size and flatness (just 60mm variation over the 12 mile track!) of the pan, nearby accommodation, the good tar road from Upington, availability of electricity and communications etc. Plus the Northern Cape's government who recognised the opportunity to create jobs and to promote tourism. Backing the project was a simple decision.
A track 12 miles long and 2 miles wide (about 19.5 by over 3 kms) has already been swept clean manually of stones and pebbles larger than pea size - several times. That is the equivalent of 4 800 soccer pitches! Four massive communication towers have been erected by MTN to enable live transmission of the record attempt to a world wide audience using the latest LTE technology.
Two personalities figure as large as life. Wing Commander Andy Green is an RAF jet fighter pilot who set the record back in 1997 (and the one before that) and will be 'driving' Bloodhound in this latest attempt. Richard Noble, also an Englishman, is the previous world record holder when he set the record of 634 mph in Thrust 2 in 1983. He is the super "project manager" of this attempt. Of course they are 'the face' of the project but there are thousands of others in the team; engineers, designers, academics, sponsors, aerodynamicists to name a few.
Bloodhound SSC or SuperSonic Car is in the painstaking process of being designed, built and tested in England. Weighing in at over 6.5 tonnes, it will be powered by 1) a very powerful supercharged Jaguar car engine, 2) a Tornado fighter plane jet engine and 3) a rocket.
Several years in the making so far, the schedule includes a dry run to be conducted in probably September 2016 with the actual attempt to be made a year later. So is this project merely to re-write the record books and fly the Union Jack high? No, it is so much more than this. It will push the limits of engineering design, technology, materials, electronics and many other facets. By the way, there are currently at least two other cars being built in America and Australia to challenge for the record.
But one of the prime objectives has been to increase awareness and interest in the science, mathematics and engineering fields amongst the public at large and amongst school pupils in particular. And not just in the United Kingdom. Over 450 schools in South Africa are involved in the project as well.
Because of the Northern Cape government's direct involvement, they will be co-ordinating the tourism aspects of this event including visits to the site prior to the dry runs currently scheduled for Q3 2016 and the attempt in Q3 2017. Which allows plenty of time to plan a holiday to include Augrabies Falls, the Kgalagadi and, of course, the Bloodhound SSC World Land Speed Record attempt. Oh and why not sign up to receive the regular interesting newsletters.
www.bloodhoundssc.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodhound_ssc
www.sanparks.org
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