THE TEAM behind the land speed record, considered one of the greatest engineering feats of the last century, visited Coventry to look ahead to the project’s 25th anniversary.
Thrust SSC hit 763 miles per hour on October 15, 1997, making it the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier.
Richard Noble, one of the lead developers of Thrust SSC visited the vehicle, which is now at Coventry Transport Museum, alongside most of the team who worked on the project.
The team recalled the event and looked ahead to the special anniversary date.
Richard said: “I can’t believe how quickly the 25 years have gone – almost as fast as Thrust SSC itself.
“It was so nice to see everyone again and to look back on what was an incredible achievement – not by any single individual – but by a team of great people.
“Looking back to when we started, we had already got the land-speed record with Thrust2, which is also housed at Coventry Transport Museum.”
The group caught wind of a team in America that was also trying to break the sound barrier, and the McLaren Formula 1 team were also looking into it.
but we caught wind there was a team in America that wanted to break the sound barrier and also the McLaren F1 team were looking at it.
“We had no money and no engineers but we had the idea, and ran with it.
“Ron Ayers led the way on the aerodynamics and that was the key to our success – we were ten years ahead of anything they had done in F1.
“Andy Green, our driver, was incredibly brave.
“It was a difficult car to drive but he battled away and we managed to go supersonic twice.
“It was a fantastic achievement and, for me, shows what we can do here in Britain when we have the ambition and everyone pulls together to make it happen”.
The Thrust SSC’s sonic booms could be heard for 40 miles around, shaking houses and knocking the heads off the local school’s sprinklers.
Most of the team will travel to Gerlach in America for the anniversary, with plans for a live link back to Coventry Transport Museum.
Stephen Spencer, of Coventry Transport Museum, said: “We are delighted to be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Thrust SSC’s incredible achievement and we are so fortunate to have the vehicle here in the city.
“They have been an inspiration to Coventry people for many years as an example of what great things can be achieved through science and engineering”.
