Inside a 1000 mph office

Bloodhound’s Driver, Andy Green, show’s you around his 1,000mph office. Green has drawn on his experience of flying fast jets and driving World Land Speed Record winners Thrust SSC and JCB Dieselmax to design the dashboard and cockpit layout. Good ergonomics are vital given that Bloodhound SSC will cover a mile in 3.6 seconds, or 150 m in the (300 millisecond) blink of an eye. The central screen shows the speed in miles per hour and Mach number (Mach 1 being the speed of sound), calculated by GPS, plus jet engine and rocket outputs. Dynamic speed indicators help Andy to judge when to fire the rocket and deploy the braking systems. Wheel loads are also given prominence. Bloodhound does not use aerodynamic downforce, as a Formula 1 car does, while lift at the nose or rear axle must also be avoided at all costs. The need to carefully balance forces throughout its 1000 mph speed range is one of the major reasons why shaping the car has taken 30 design-years.