Supersonic Car ‘Bloodhound’ Takes First Drive Across The Desert

The Bloodhound supersonic car has completed its first drive across the Hakskeen dry lake in South Africa.

Pilot Andy Green took the jet-powered vehicle on a gentle 100mph (160km/h) shakedown test run.

The relatively low speed run came after the car was officially revealed in the desert on Monday (21 October).

The 100mph ‘shake down test’ came at the end of ‘Run Profile One’. The test was to bed in the brakes and check throttle and steering, according to the project’s official Twitter account.

The successful test followed some technical issues, including a water leak after a failed weld and a fuel pump issue.

Bloodhound will be run at progressively faster and faster speeds in the coming days as engineers seek to verify its design and the proper working of its subsystems.

With a Eurofighter jet engine onboard, it should be capable of reaching 500-600mph (800-965km/h) this year. The addition of a rocket motor in 2020 ought then to take the car over 800mph (1,290km/h).

Engineers will be looking in particular at how much drag Bloodhound is producing in these trials. This will determine the level of thrust they will need from the rocket.

Up to a dozen runs are planned between now and mid November, with the first six taking the speed up in steps of 50mph (80km/h).