In the Comments section beneath the item are the usual negative and poorly-thought-through remarks, but Brits with hearts don't feel this way, thank God, and the car's already becoming almost as well-known as ThrustSSC
Yes, Mike - good point. The educational aspect of the Bloodhound endeavour has projected it into places that traditionally-structured speed-record bids simply don't even scratch. In terms of scale and reach, the whole thing eclipses everything that has gone before.
A massive awareness blitz. It's a lot to live up to. Who would bet against it working, though. Not I.
They seem to have left everyone else behind now, lagging in their wake. Barring an unexpected slip I can't see any other team beating them to the record.
And if they accomplish that, I imagine that will effectively pull the ladder up.
I don't know Rosco at all, but I have kept up with his newsletters and website updates for the past few years.
According to an update on the website quite some time ago, it was going to be necessary to sell the previous car to raise the funds needed to complete the new one. That hasn't happened, and nor did a crowdfunding plan to raise the money to build the tailfin.
My sense for some time (the past 12 months) has been that the funding isn't there to get it done. At least not currently. That's no reason to give up, of course, and Rosco is pressing on, but it seems to me that it would take a big change of fortune for him to get a record before Richard's team does. You never know how it's going to play out, though. Fortunes do change.
I too would like to see Rosco gain a record. Nobody can doubt his sheer courage, drive and tenacity. I believe he has huge popular appeal, so maybe he should make another attempt at crowdfunding?
1 in 10 people understands binary. The other one doesn't
Rob, I fully agree that Rosco deserves a shot at the record.
With the tailfin crowdfunding plan - as was - I don't know if it was actually launched but failed to raise the necessary, or whether it simply didn't happen in the first place.
It was announced, and then there was no follow-up news.
Meanwhile, Ye Olde Skills are going on in the name of giving BSSC a tail fin...
It's often said that the lathe is the 'king of tools' but I disagree. The English Wheel better deserves that title due to the black-art-witchcraft needed to get a good result from it and it's great to see it being used amongst all the cutting-edge engineering going into BSSC. Some things will never change and nor should they.
I'm only a plumber from Cannock...
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
Too true about the English Wheel, Bill - there's something magical about it in use that no textbook could ever properly explain.
I can't pass up on the chance to mention Brian Ball - sadly no longer with us, who has been mentioned on this forum before - who had that instinctive talent that only comes with time and experience, and he was a true master (but never boasted). After he retired from the aircraft industry, Brian still ensured he had a wheel at home, kept in his large garage/basement, and he never lost the knack.
For the record, aside of course from Thrust 2, the projects he worked his English Wheel magic upon included the BAC-111 and the TSR2. The distinctive domed "pod" where the tailplane meets the tailfin on the lovely VC10 is just one example of Brian's work.
I was introduced to Brian by Ken back in the day. The idea being that Brian would make our panels while Ken got on with evolving what needed to be evolved with his frame. We tried very hard to get as many of the old team involved while they were still able and implored the Hapless Lottery Failure to speed things along for this very reason but I may as well have asked the dog to sort it.
I'm only a plumber from Cannock...
"As to reward, my profession is its own reward;" Sherlock Holmes.
'It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.' W.C. Fields.
Very sad about the time lost. You can never get it back. I know all about that feeling. It can be written down to experience. That's all you can do.
Brian would have loved to have worked on K7 with you. He was just dotty about speed records. He'd talk endlessly, and was even more excited about present and future projects than he was about the ones he'd worked on in the past. A lot of oldies only want to talk about the past. Brian wasn't one of them.
And helping you in Geordie-land, it wouldn't have been a problem being away from home - Brian lived near Poole - as he did this in the latter part of his life when he went off to California for extended periods to help Craig Breedlove with his car when Breedlove was preparing to go up against ThrustSSC. He was just so chuffed to be working in that speed-record environment again.
A clever way of showing the build advancing. I've not seen that method of depiction employed anywhere before - tracking along the electrical lines, fluid pipes and rows of rivets in rapid succession, almost as one continuous progression.
