Some relatively sad news – The Bloodhound SSC, which was due to arrive in South Africa towards the end of the year in an attempt to break the world land-speed record, has been delayed. Blast, and we were looking forward to that.
It’s been rescheduled for some time in 2016, based on a test of the vehicle that will take place on 17 November this year in the UK. Bloodhound will be prepping for their 1600km/h land-speed run by visiting the Newquay Aerohub in Cornwall for a 320km/h test.
The reason given for the delay is that the fuel pump, specifically the HTP (high-test peroxide) pump, is working a bit too well. The HTP pump supplies Bloodhound’s rocket engine with fuel and this is straining other parts – the delay has arisen as a result of this over-efficiency, as they need new bearings, which cannot be tested in time to refit to the engine.
The Bloodhound will be appearing in South Africa around April or May next year, provided the UK tests go well, when the conditions for their record attempt will be ideal for high-speed driving.
Source: Ars Technica