Something different...now with pics!!

I've been working for this company as a design engineer/draftsman for some while now on a really interesting project, a new land speed record for steam, which is the longest standing land speed record.

It's fuelled by LPG, and turbine driven with a single stage turbine.

There is loads that I would change; I would use one large boiler instead of twelve small ones which have to be balanced at 400 degrees- so well into superheated steam. This would also make the car a lot lighter as the 316 ceramic insulated casings are heavy, as is all the insulated pipework and plenums connecting them together. The shape of the car is bloody awful, done by a university, they clearly have no understanding of frontal area and packaging etc, something like the dieselmax would have been far better, but it's too late in the day to change it.

Still for all it's faults it's by far the most interesting project I've worked on for a long time, and going to edwards air force base (shuttle section/area 51 etc) will be the icing on the cake

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Chris/Kip

Awesome stuff.

Wow that looks great, everytime I see projects like this I wish i'd done engineering at uni....

So which Chris are you? Fabricator or Draughtsman?

excellent goal oriented project.
Interesting read.
I don't mind the shape tbh..

So are u guys confident the package you have put together can break the record ?

I guess it will be a massive sense of achievement if u do.

mic_VR wrote:Wow that looks great, everytime I see projects like this I wish i'd done engineering at uni....

So which Chris are you? Fabricator or Draughtsman?

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Ha ha I'm down as a design draughtsman whatever that is mate!! I'm not a very good draughtsman though tbh!! Basically I do the design work in catia or solidworks, consulting any specialists that I need to, then do the drawings for it- but not very well!! I'll post some pics up of some of the stuff as it's really interesting. For instance I had to do some suspension geometry set up gear that had to be able to be set up in the middle of the lake bed, with no electrical equipment....It's just come back from being made and it works a treat!

Some of the people are really interesting too, a couple of them being from the thrust SSC team (google it)- Jerry Bliss (ex Mclaren aerodynamacist and systems engineer) and Mike Horne- carbon fibre guru, who single handed made all the panels for the thrust ssc, although not all of this one as he came on board later on as I did (to replace Glynn Bowsher who wasn't up to much apparently). The other Chris (Yates) is a good friend of mine who got me onboard, we met at Janspeed a few years ago when I was working as a automotive consultant and we got on really well. Clive who works there- there is nothing that man dosen't know about engine building and turbocharging.
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I feel very proud to be part of the team, and yes I definitely think we'll do it!!

It sounds like thrust SSC

Sounds amazing, definitely interested to see this unfold.

Any idea for a rough date to get it over to the states?

Should be in June, when the lake bed has dried up and gone hard! We're on a bit of a wind down period at the moment.

It does sound awesome, but will be much quieter when we use superheated steam which is much hotter and is totally clear. But for most test runs we just keep the temps down so there are clouds and lots of noise! I'll post some pics later on tonight.

Soooo what do you think it will be capable of 300.......400 mph

Nothing like that mate! I wish, 200 max- it's near 4 tons with water! Sorry to disappoint!

Hahahahaha no disappointment mate, its bloody fast on steam that is.

What are you doing for transmission and gearing? It must be producing a massive amount of torque to get 4 tonnes shifting.

A few more random photos...if you want an explanation of how it works just ask!
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Me and my son!

mic_VR wrote:What are you doing for transmission and gearing? It must be producing a massive amount of torque to get 4 tonnes shifting.

See the pic of the turbine, that's mounted straight to the gearbox with the brakes bolted straight onto that, its direct drive via a locked cosworth diff and a drive ratio of 5:1, so 5 spins of the turbine = 1 turn of the back wheels, although we have different crowns so we can change the ratio.. I wasn't there whilst it was designed, but having done a few bits of FEA on it since, I'm a little worried to say the least, we'll find out soon though when we go back to the airfield to do our first superheated runs....

Man, it'd be awesome to work on something like this. Fair play. What is the current record for Steam powered transport?

bit lost for words....true engineering!

mrbeige wrote:Man, it'd be awesome to work on something like this. Fair play. What is the current record for Steam powered transport?

The international record is 126mph! The American record is 145, but didn't make international because he only went one way. In order to gain an international record you have to travel back on your original tracks within an hour. The recorded speed is an average of your two times.

CorradoVR6-Turbo wrote:bit lost for words....true engineering!

Cheers mate, it's certainly different! great fun thought tbh.

Is the record for all steam powered transport? Didn't the Mallard achieve 126mph in 1938?

Slightly off topic I know but interestingly, although he wasn't on the record breaking run, my grandad worked on the footplate on both the Mallard and the Flying Scotsman

mic_VR wrote:Is the record for all steam powered transport? Didn't the Mallard achieve 126mph in 1938?

Slightly off topic I know but interestingly, although he wasn't on the record breaking run, my grandad worked on the footplate on both the Mallard and the Flying Scotsman

Yes you're right the Mallard did do 126, with 6 coaches in tow!!!- and that is the UK record, but sadly it didn't turn round and do it the other direction!!

I've never really been into trains at all so I don't know anything about them, but if ever there was an age to be into them, steam would have been the day- what is the footplate though? I'm presuming it's up front?

Excellent stuff Kip! Definately one of those projects that must be great to be involved with.

I actually work with Alex Macfadzean who built the Penetrator (try searching for that on the internet!) series of two wheeled land speed record streamliners. Great bloke, always cooking up something wild and currently building a new version to bring the record back home!

Clicky

No website for his new project yet...... he hasn't sorted me out with any info / pictures yet! But it is powered by a helicopter turbine engine this time round

Thanks Dave, too right it's been fun but it's been a steep learning curve for me, as i've had no previous steam experience at all, just cars.

I hope we do bring all these records home, the only reason boodhound is in the making is because the Americans are close to getting a new LSR car finished, and noble wants it to back in British hands asap!!

Very interesting website, I've seen Alex's name mentioned before somewhere, but I'd love to see any new stuff he's up to, send me some if you get any

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Cheers mate!

Well the car has finally been packed for shipping to the USA, all testing has been completed and went really well, we managed 80mph in just 1km, we've got 2.5 miles to get up to speed at Edwards air force base when the measured mile will start, and then we have to slow down, charge the car up, and go back again within an hour for the return run. The strip we do it on is one of the chuttle landing sites and the base is where NASA/US air force headquarters are, so there will be lots to see!

Here's a short vid, not very good though!

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The car goes on the trolley (which lifts up and down-it's quite cool), the trolley goes on the trailer, and the trailer goes in the container - just! After a quick bit of polishing by the Autoglym boys of course!
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I actually read about this in one of the national papers a few weeks ago as well.