Which just did not set speed records on a car. The interest to conquer the track, probably, has always been in the blood of racing fans, from the very moment the cars appeared. And many succeeded.
Absolute result
So, before talking about all kinds of speed records on a car (of which there are many), it is worth mentioning the most important result. The maximum figure was reached in 1997, on October 15th. Then a new, absolute and to this day unconquered speed record for a car was set. 1229.78 km / h - the arrow reached this mark on the speedometer. Andy Green, an Englishman and fighter pilot, became the conqueror of the track. The record was set in the desert The car, of course, was not ordinary, but jet - Thrust SSC.
The track, the length of which was 21 kilometers, was marked at the bottom of a dried-up lake located in the Black Rock Desert. Andy's car was powered by two powerful, turbofan power units from " Rolls-Royce". Each motor was equipped with forced draft. And the total power of the motors reached an incredible figure - 110,000 Horse power. It is not surprising that Green managed to accelerate to such a mark.
"Pioneers"-record holders
And now you can delve into other topics. So, the first world speed record on a car equipped with a motor internal combustion, was established by a man like Emile Levassor. This was in 1985. Then the Paris-Bordeaux race took place. In fact, it was the first speed competition! And Emil won them. His phrase, which he said after the races, is widely known: “It was crazy! I did up to thirty kilometers an hour!” Of course, at that time, at the end of the 19th century, the figures were indeed stunning. True, Emil also died because of his love for racing. In 1987, during a speed competition, he had an accident while trying to avoid a dog. He soon died due to his wounds. But his speed record in a car with an internal combustion engine has forever remained in history.
The following results have been officially recorded. In 1898, a speed of 63.149 km / h was reached. The motorist was Count Gaston de Chasselus-Loba. He then drove an electric car designed by Charles Janto. By the way, this was the first officially registered record.
Distance racing
Already at the end of the 19th century, speed competitions began to be held, in which motorists had to overcome a certain distance. Who was the first, he won, everything is logical. And the first was the 100-kilometer distance. She was conquered by Camille Zhenatzi, a Belgian motorist. And it was April 29, 1899. He also drove an electric car with 40 horsepower. The maximum he reached was 105.8 km / h.
The next distance was 200 kilometers. She was conquered in 1911. And then R. Burman became the winner. It is not difficult to guess that he was driving a car from the Benz company. His maximum record The speed of the car was incredible - 228 km/h! What can I say, not all modern machines some brands can work out such a maximum.
300 kilometers was first conquered by H. O. D. Sigrev. This was in 1927. And its maximum stopped at around 327.8 km / h. Then, in 1932, there was a 400 km race. Malcolm Campbell managed to win. And it was 408.6 km / h.
John Aiston won the 500 km race in a Rolls-Royce Aiston in 1937. He “squeezed” out of the car a maximum of 502.4 km / h. And finally, a thousand kilometers. Garry Gabelich covered this distance in 1970, on October 23rd. His car was a rocket car called the Blue Flame. amounted to 1014.3 km / h. Interestingly, the car was 11.3 meters long. The race was held on a dry salt lake called Bonneville.
Sound speed
And once it was overcome. This was first done by a man named Stan Barrett. This is a professional stuntman from America, who at the time of the event was 36 years old. He set a record in a 3-wheeler. It was called the Budweiser Rocket. By the way, there were two of them. The main engine is a rocket engine with a thrust of 9900 kgf. And the second - RDTT. He had a thrust of 2000 kgf. It was installed in the car in order to use additional power if the main one was not enough to overcome the declared speed.
The race took place at an air base in California in 1979. By the way, talking about speed records on a car, it should be noted that this one was just not registered by the FIA. And all because the rules of the organization say: to fix the result, you need to spend two races in two different directions. This is done to eliminate the slope of the track and the influence of the wind. Stan Barret refused it. He said the record had already been set.
For a thousand miles
So far, no one has managed to conquer the speed limit of 1000 miles / hour. This, it is worth clarifying, is 1609 kilometers per hour. But people who deal with cars do not lose their enthusiasm. They rightly believe that everything is possible, and this too. The designers of the Bloodhound SSC, for example, have a plan for setting a new record. Most likely, the car intended for the race will be equipped with three power units. The first will be a hybrid rocket engine. The second will be the Eurojet EJ200 jet unit, which is used on a fighter aircraft called And the third will be a V-shaped engine with 8 cylinders from the Jaguar concern. It will, of course, run on gasoline. But used this engine will be used to drive the pumps that pump fuel to the rocket motor and activate the onboard electric generator.
Other categories
Many women also set speed records in a car. The best result is 843.3 km/h. It was reached by an American girl named Kitty Humbleton. And she set a record in 1976, in December. The engine power of her car was 48,000 “horses”.
The maximum that could be achieved by racers driving a car with a steam engine is 223.7 km / h. There were 12 boilers in the car, where the water was heated by combustion. natural gas. Approximately 40 kilograms of water were evaporated in the boilers every minute in this way. The power of the installation was approximately 360 liters. With.
And what about the speed record on a production car? Naturally, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport hypercar is the best in this regard. His figure is 431.072 kilometers per hour! But this is not the limit. After all, the fastest and most dynamic passenger car designed to drive on the roads has become ... Ford Badd GT! He was able to reach the mark of 455 km / h. And this is more than the notorious Bugatti.
Diesel "champions"
Cars that run on diesel engines are often underestimated. So, all stereotypes at the moment destroys JCB Dieselmax. This is not consuming gasoline, but diesel fuel. On it, under the guidance of the same Andy Green, they set a record of 563.418 km / h. It happened in 2006. It is worth recalling that a similar test was conducted in 1973. The result of that year was an order of magnitude smaller - 379.5 km / h.
The fastest production car running on diesel fuel is a German representative. And this is the BMW 330 TDS. Its maximum is 320 km/h. The unit of this model has 6 cylinders and a volume of three liters. Plus, of course, turbocharging. Motor power is 300 "horses". And the consumption, by the way, cannot but rejoice - only 8 liters per 100 km.
Other results
Above were the speed records by car over the years. As you can see, there are many good results managed to achieve not even in the XXI century. And indeed, it is! For example, the Audi S4 released in 1992 is recognized. This model is capable of reaching 418 km/h. In any case, this result was recorded during the race on the dry lake Bonneville. Under the hood of this all-wheel drive car was a 5-cylinder turbocharged engine. Its power was modified to 1100 hp. With.
And there was also a speed record for a car with wheel drive. It amounted to 737.4 km / h. And finally, it is impossible not to say about the speed result, which was achieved on a motorized log - 76.625 km / h! It was this indicator that the structure made of cedar logs and automotive parts. The record, by the way, is fresh - it was recorded in 2016.
Russian indicators
Naturally, speaking on such a topic, one cannot help but note the speed record for a car in Russia. On the territory of our country, Lada and Volga are produced - they are still as far away as possible. But still there is some interesting record in history.
It was installed by such people as Oleg Bogdanov, Vladimir Solovyov and Viktor Panyarsky - the team of the magazine "Behind the Wheel". Men in a VAZ-2109 car crossed the whole of Europe in 45 hours and 30 minutes. The start was in Moscow, on Manezhnaya Square. And the “jet trip” ended in Lisbon, not far from the Belem tower. The idea to make such a run did not come spontaneously. It was a response to the Portuguese initiative. In 1986, two Portuguese journalists arrived in the Russian capital from Lisbon. They covered the entire route in 51 hours and 30 minutes. Soviet journalists accepted the challenge and, one might say, won the unvoiced argument.
And there was another case in 2009. A resident of Samara on his "Lada-21099" reached a speed of 277 km / h! The most interesting thing is in a traffic jam, during rush hour, at about nine in the morning! The guy exceeded the speed limit by 217 kilometers. Also a kind of record. Possible, probably, only in Russia.
Speed has always attracted a person - it made it possible to instantly overcome huge distances, significantly saving precious time. However, not only convenience attracted a person - after all, the name of the one who set a new record was immortalized by technology and gained worldwide fame. That is why world speed records on a car are constantly updated - hundreds of brilliant engineers are working to create even more powerful and advanced cars, millions of dollars are invested in their development, and hundreds of thousands of caring people are waiting with bated breath when the next frontier will be overcome. Surely everyone who is not indifferent to speed will be interested to learn about the history of its conquest.
At the dawn of the automotive era
It is believed that the first speed record belongs to the French driver and designer Emile Levassor, who set it during the Paris-Bordeaux race. The whole world remembers his phrase, which served as the beginning of the desire for high speeds: “We gave out thirty kilometers per hour! It was real madness!” But in 1895 there was no official definition of record figures, so formally the French engineer was left without the status of a pioneer.
And he went to Count Gaston de Chasselus-Loba, who took care of registering his achievement. The car, developed by designer Charles Jeantot, accelerated to 63 km / h at a distance of 1 kilometer. The title of the record holder was decided to be taken by his eternal rival - professional race car driver Camille Zhenatzi, who accelerated to 66 km / h in just a few days. This is how the long-term confrontation began, during which the cars continued to improve and receive, as well as aerodynamic bodies. In 1899, the Comte de Chasselus-Loba finally managed to significantly outrun the enemy, reaching 92.7 km / h - then such a speed was considered simply unattainable.
But just two months later, Camille Zhenatzi set the first landmark speed record by car - he overcame the line of 100 km / h, exceeding it by 5 kilometers. He owed much of his incredible success to a car called "Forever Dissatisfied", which was equipped with electric motors and had a streamlined body made of alloyed aluminum alloy. Such a car was the last of the record electric vehicles - all other cars were already equipped with other types of power units.
Surprisingly, the next milestone was first overcome by steam transport, which has not yet been completely written off - in 1906, racer Fred Marriot in a Stanley car accelerated to 205 km / h. , then still very imperfect, could not reach such a record. But in 1909, a Blitzen Benz car driven by Victor Emery on the Brookland track in Great Britain showed a result of 202 km / h. Two more years later, Robert Burman set the next world speed record, using a car with an internal combustion engine - he reached a value of 228 km / h.
In pursuit of the impossible
The next world speed record was set by Henry Seagreve, who had a Sunbeam "The Slug" 1000 hp, powered by two aircraft engines with a total output of 900 horsepower. On the Daytona Beach track in 1927, he accelerated to 327 km / h, which allowed him to simultaneously exceed the milestone in miles - 200 per hour. Interestingly, unlike the pre-existing prototypes, this car was not at all light - its total starting weight exceeded 4 tons!
Another famous racer, Malcolm Campbell, who had previously unsuccessfully tried to put the world championship on the Blue Bird car equipped with a Napier engine, could not come to terms with the championship of Sigreva. In 1931, Campbell brought a new generation of his famous car, which had the name Campbell-Napier-Railton. During two races, he showed a speed of 396 km / h, just a little short of the next threshold. However, a year later, he returned with a slightly modified car, and reached a speed of 404 km / h, officially writing his name in history and receiving the title of knight.
However, internal combustion engines soon had to make room, giving way to more powerful jet turbines. But until this happened, the American John Ayston took advantage of the maximum available power of the internal combustion engine at that time, installing two aircraft engines with a capacity of 5000 horsepower on his car. In 1937 his record car reached a speed of 502 km / h, driving several times along the bottom of the dried-up Lake Bonneville. In 1939, this record was raised to 575 km / h, but Ayston refused further competition, and soon he was overtaken by the racer John Cobb, who showed the result first at 595 and then at 640 km / h.
Modern records
After World War II, most racers switched to jet engines, which seemed to them. And indeed, on the same dry Lake Bonneville, the American Harry Gabelich in 1970 accelerated to a speed of 1014 km / h. Such a car, called the Blue Flame, was equipped with a single jet turbine, the thrust of which reached about 22 thousand horsepower. In 1979, it was claimed that stuntman Stanley Barrett had broken the speed of sound, but the rider did not want to make a second run according to the rules for setting records, and the army specialists involved in the measurements did not enter his achievement in the protocols.
To date, the maximum car speed record belongs to the Thrust SSC supersonic vehicle, which showed a result of 1228 km/h. The corresponding confirmation record was made in 1997, when the car entered the track in the Black Rock Desert of the USA. The car was equipped with two Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines operating in afterburner mode - their total power reached 110 thousand horsepower. Especially for driving such an incredible vehicle, the pilot of the Royal Air Force of Great Britain Andy Green, who is the owner of the driver's title, was invited.
Now the team behind the Thrust SSC is working on an even faster car, dubbed the Bloodhound SSC. Especially for him, the British Air Force provided the developers with two jet engines, and an 800-horsepower gasoline engine V8, all the power of which will go to provide the motors with electricity, as well as to drive the fuel pumps. It is assumed that the car will overcome the barrier of 1000 miles or 1609 kilometers per hour, and the well-deserved record holder Andy Green will sit behind her wheel.
The speed record on a production car was set by a car Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, at one time accelerating to 431 km / h thanks to the W16, which is 1200 horsepower. Interestingly, many other manufacturers are trying to challenge this record. The problem is that any stock cars of this brand are equipped with a speed limiter that works at 415 km / h, while it was turned off on the car that participated in the record race.
However, the fastest on the roads common use became the Ford GT, which was finalized by PPR and received the new name BADD GT. A car with a forced V8 develops 1700 horsepower and reaches a speed of 455 km / h. But this car cannot be considered serial, since it was produced in a single copy.
Sometimes speeds are confused with a similar achievement on land, which is fundamentally wrong. Thus, the maximum speed achieved by a vehicle that has not left the earth's surface is 10,430 km/h. It belongs to unmanned rocket sled moving along a specially laid rail track. This achievement was recorded in 2003 at the Holloman Air Force Base in the USA.
Faster and faster
When the record-breaking Bloodhound SSC is ready and this car hits a new milestone, what will be the next threshold the engineers want to cross? Many people will say that such fun is a waste of money that does not bring any benefit to society, and that record races should be stopped. However, it is worth remembering that there are many technical solutions, which were first used in such record-breaking vehicles. Therefore, the whole world should look forward to new speed records.
16-10-2013 at 12:10
A year ago, the Ford Badd GT became the fastest road car at 455 km/h. This achievement is included in the top eight world speed records, which we will talk about.
The maximum speed developed ground transport, is 1229.78 km / h. This record was set by Englishman Andy Green in 1997. The car (if you can call it that) was powered by two Rolls-Royce turbojet engines, which in total produced about 110 thousand “horses” of power. The race took place at the bottom of a dry lake in the United States, and the length of the path was 21 kilometers.
The most high speed, which a woman managed to develop on a car, is 843 km / h. The record was set in 1976 in the US desert on a three-wheeled S.M. Motivatore. Its power was 48 thousand horsepower.
Surprising as it may seem, a steam car has entered our top eight records. British engineers have developed a "steam car" that can accelerate to 218 km / h. The car was equipped with 12 boilers, the water in which was heated using natural gas. The "consumption" of such a car is about 40 liters of water per minute, and the total power is 360 "horses".
The title of the fastest production car goes to the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. SSC Tuatara. Theoretically, the maximum Veyron speed is 443 km/h. There were those who wanted to check this in practice, but the creators of the car can be trusted.
The absolute speed record among passenger cars belongs to the Ford Badd GT. He accelerated to 455 km / h in a section of 1 mile (1609 meters). Under the hood, this supercar hides no less than 1700 hp.
JCB Dieselmax, as the name suggests, is the fastest diesel car. In 2006, at the bottom of another dried-up lake of the same USA, the pilot Andy Green, already familiar to us, set a new (both personal and world) record - Dieselmax accelerated to 563 km / h.
For diesel serial cars everything is more modest. Here the championship is held by the BMW 330 TDS, which is capable of speeds of 320 km/h. Ironically, a turbocharged 3.0-litre "diesel" is almost as fast as a British steam car.
The “all-wheel drive” speed record belongs to a car with the marvelous name “Turbinator”. The obligatory work of all wheels greatly complicates the task of already almost native turbojet engines - the Turbinator was able to accelerate to 737 km / h.
There are people who live on top speed. They chase records and strive to be the fastest. And it doesn't matter how they do it - behind the wheel of a racing car or on the back of a racing camel. The bottom line is that speed is in their blood.
If BMW were a person, the same could be said about it. Great performances in the DTM series and European touring, in Formula 1 and motorcycle racing - speed has been an integral part of BMW's life throughout its history and remains so today.
Technologies proven on the racetrack and during record-breaking races are used by BMW in the development road cars. Firstly, this is evidenced by the quality of German technology, repeatedly tested by extreme loads. Secondly, many “civilian” models of the company breathe speed, for example, the “charged” 370-horsepower beauty BMW M2 Coupe, capable of accelerating to “hundreds” in 4.3 seconds and limited to 250 km / h only electronically for safety reasons. Finally, it is worth mentioning the line of BMW M Performance accessories, which allows you to customize various models of the company in a sporty style. Carbon "kit" that reduces aerodynamic drag, power package, sports exhaust and brake system, interior accessories - the ability to make a car from ordinary car attracts many.
Therefore, today we are talking about speed records. About brilliant engineers who build fast cars, planes and ships. About fearless pilots who take risks to become one of the fastest. About the records, simple and complex, ordinary and strange - about what a person cannot exist without.
LAND SPEED RECORDS
ABSOLUTE SPEED RECORD ON THE LAND:
1227.986 km/h
VEHICLE: THRUST SSC
POWER UNIT: TWO ROLLS-ROYCE SPEY RB.168 MK.202 TURBOFAN ENGINES
PILOT: ANDY GREEN
DATE: 15 OCTOBER 1997
WHO WILL BEAT: THE BLOODHOUND SSC CAR
Today there is only one team in the world that consistently breaks one absolute speed record after another, and this situation has persisted for 30 years. It all started with the fact that back in 1983, Richard Noble on a Thrust 2 jet accelerated in the Black Rock Desert to a speed of 1019.47 km / h. A decade and a half later, Noble acted as a designer - his pilot Andy Green on the mighty Thrust SSC set two speed records in a row. Today, the same team is preparing for the next race the monstrous Bloodhound SSC, which should accelerate to more than 1600 km / h. Thrust SSC became the first car to overcome sound barrier. Its design used two aircraft engine with a total power of 110,000 hp, similar to those installed on the F-4 Phantom II fighter-bomber and burning 18 liters of fuel per second. Not very economical, but the record has been holding for almost 20 years. Because no one but Noble is trying to beat him.
CAR WITH HYDROGEN ENGINE:
487.672 km/h
VEHICLE: BUCKEYE BULLET 2
POWER UNIT: HYDROGEN FUEL CELL ENGINE
PILOT: ROGER SCHROER
DATE: 25 SEPTEMBER 2009
WHO WILL BEAT: BUCKEYE BULLET 3 IN 2017-2018
Although hydrogen-powered cars have been around for a relatively long time, until 2004 no one tried to build a special car to set a speed record in this area. The first was BMW, which presented a record bmw car I I2R with a giant 12-cylinder engine, which eventually accelerated to 301.95 km / h. The record held until 2009 when it was broken by a team from Ohio State University in a custom Buckeye Bullet 2. It is worth noting that the same guys hold the electric vehicle speed record (495.526 km / h), set a year later on the Buckeye Bullet 2.5 car. The third generation of the car is currently in development.
STEAM CAR:
238.679 km/h
VEHICLE: INSPIRATION
POWER UNIT: TWO-STAGE STEAM TURBINE
PILOT: DONWAILES
DATE: AUGUST 26, 2009
WHO WILL BEAT: 2017-2018 TEAM STEAM USA CYCLONE
The steam car speed record was held for 103 (!) years. Back in 1903, pilot Fred Marriott on a record-breaking Stanley Rocket accelerated to 205.5 km / h on Daytona Beach. Until the mid-1980s, no one simply bothered with the need to break this record. In 1985, American pilot Bob Barber on the Barber-Nichols Steamin Demon steam car reached a speed of 234.33 km / h, but the record was not recognized by the FIA due to a violation of the rules (Barber drove both races in one direction, while the FIA requires them to be held in opposite directions within one hour). Finally, in 2009, a British team led by Glynn Bowsher built a steam-powered Inspiration that surpassed the bar set by Marriott. Now two teams - Steam Speed America and Team Steam USA - are preparing their steam cars for races, and one of them is likely to overturn the British achievement.
MOTORBIKE:
605.697 km/h
VEHICLE: TOP OIL ASK ATTACK STREAMLINER
POWERTRAIN: TWO SUZUKI HAYABUSA TURBO ENGINES
PILOT: ROCKY ROBINSON
DATE: 25 SEPTEMBER 2010
WHO WILL BEAT: ROCKY ROBINSON HIMSELF IN 2017-2018
In the 2000s, the fight for the speed record on a motorcycle was very intense - pilots Rocky Robinson and Chris Carr surpassed each other's achievements four times, alternately being at the top of the record pyramid. Robinson put an end to the streamliner Ack Attack, becoming the first motorcyclist to overcome the bar of 600 km/h. The record-breaking motorcycle was powered by two mighty Suzuki Hayabusas with a total volume of 2598 cm3, reinforced with Garret turbocharging. Interestingly, in record practice, the line between the concepts of “car” and “motorcycle” is very thin - motorcycles with a side support (“sidecar”) are very similar to cars, history even knew the case when Craig Breedlove’s Spirit of America record car was “retrained” into a motorcycle after the race, although one way or another he showed in 1963 an absolute speed record for any vehicle.
AIR SPEED RECORDS
PROPELLER AIRCRAFT:
871.38 km/h
VEHICLE: PASSENGER AIRCRAFT-1M
POWER UNIT: 4 GAS TURBINE ENGINES NK-12
PILOT: IVAN SUKHOMLIN
DATE: MARCH 24, 1960 WHO WILL BEAT: NOBODY. SMALL PLANES ARE NOT CAPABLE FOR THIS, AND LARGE PLANES WITH PROPELLER THRUSH ARE NO LONGER BUILT
Not all records belong to the British and Americans. For example, the speed record for an aircraft driven by propellers (that is, not a jet) has been held for more than half a century by Soviet test pilot Ivan Sukhomlin, who accelerated to 871 km / h on the Tu-114.114 was, in fact, the last large passenger turboprop aircraft, and at the time of creation (1957) - the largest passenger aircraft in the world in general! It was driven by four huge NK-12 SNTK Kuznetsov engines, and each rotated two propellers with a diameter of 6 m in opposite directions. Today, the era of turboprop aircraft is a thing of the past, and it is unlikely that anyone will ever invest millions of dollars in building a machine, capable of breaking this record.
MUSCLE:
44.26 km/h
VEHICLE: MUSCULAIR 2
POWER UNIT: NONE
PILOT: HOLGER ROCHELT
DATE: OCTOBER 2, 1985
WHO WILL BEAT: SOME OF THE ENTHUSIASTS, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY EXACTLY
Musculolet is an unusual and rare device, in the entire history of mankind there have been hardly a hundred. The first flight of an aircraft on a muscular (pedal) thrust took place only in 1961, and the first flight not in a straight line, that is, allowing you to change the direction of movement, was in 1977. The German engineer Günter Rochelt was one of the muscle building enthusiasts, having created two record-breaking vehicles Musculair and Musculair 2. Musculair became the first muscle car in history to lift a passenger (Günther's son Holger Rochelt was a Nilote, and daughter Katrin was a passenger). And on the second generation, Holger set the hitherto unsurpassed speed record for a muscle-powered apparatus. In fact, there are enough enthusiasts of this unusual direction in the world, and sooner or later Holger's record must fall. But obviously not in the next three or four years.
HELICOPTER:
508.6 km/h
VEHICLE: EXPERIENCED BELL 533 HELICOPTER
POWER UNIT: 1 LYCOMING T53-L-9A GAS TURBINE AND 2 PRATT & WHITNEY JT12 TURBOJETS
PILOT: LUHARTWIG
DATE: APRIL 15, 1969
WHO WILL BEAT: SIKORSKY S-97 RAIDER IN A SPECIAL CONFIGURATION
The classic helicopter speed record, the Westland Lynx, has been held since 1986 at 400.87 km/h.
But there is a way to fool the nature of a rotorcraft: attach a push/pull propeller or a jet engine to it so that the main rotor creates only lift. Actually, Bell 533 was the first experimental helicopter with a jet pusher. And if the pusher propeller of the promising Sikorsky S-97 Raider is replaced with a turbine for experimental purposes, it will be able to block the Bell record.
AIRPLANE:
3529.6 KM/H
VEHICLE: STRATEGIC SCOUT LOCKHEED SR-71 BLACKBIRD
POWER UNIT: 2 PRATT & WHITNEY J58 AIR-JET ENGINES
PILOT: ELDON JORS
DATE: JULY 28, 1976
WHO WILL BEAT: MOST LIKELY, NOBODY - JUST NOBODY NEED IT
The famous strategic supersonic reconnaissance Air Force Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird was not a special record aircraft. It’s just that in the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, the task was to develop an aircraft that, due to its high speed and high altitude could have evaded both observation and an attack by the Soviet Air Force.
In particular, the MiG-25 was being developed in the USSR around the same time. One way or another, the Blackbird turned out to be very unusual - its design seems futuristic to this day, although it made its first flight on December 22, 1964. And in 1976, test pilot Eldon Georges set an absolute speed record for aircraft, and at the same time an absolute altitude record for a planned flight (without the help of a record “candle”), 26,929 m. The SR-71 also owns several more speed records in different disciplines. Interestingly, in the 1980s, pilot Brian Schul claimed that during the Libyan operation in 1986 he reached even higher speeds on the SR-71, but the instrument readings did not confirm this.
SAIL AND RAILS SPEED RECORDS
ABSOLUTE WATER SPEED RECORD:
511.121 km/h
VEHICLE: SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA
POWERTRAIN: WESTINGHOUSE J34 TURBOJET
PILOT: KEN WORBY
DATE: OCTOBER 8, 1978
WHO WILL: THEORETICALLY SOME CRAZY. PRACTICALLY - NOBODY
In the 20th century, speed records on land and on water were equally prestigious and were often set by the same people - the great Malcolm and Donald Campbell-..I ly (Henry Seagrave, Gar Wood. It seemed that in 1967 a point in the pipeline of records American Lee Taylor put the Hustler on the boat, but ten years later Australian Ken Warby appeared.He designed and built a plastic-wooden ultralight boat Spirit of Australia, on which he installed a Westinghouse J34 jet engine, bought at a flea market for $69. two speed records - first beating Taylor by 6 km / h, and then adding another 50 km / h to his result Warby's record is unique - no one today dares to repeat his crazy "trick" with a boat that weighed less than the engine that drove her in motion, and in the event of any accident would turn into a handful of lumps.
SAILING SHIP:
121.21 km/h
VEHICLE: VESTAS SAILROCKET 2 CATAMARAN BOAT
POWER UNIT: SAILS
PILOT: PAUL LARSEN
DATE: NOVEMBER 2012
WHO WILL BEAT: PAUL LARSEN HIMSELF ON THE NEXT GENERATION CATAMARAN
Surprisingly, the absolute speed record for a sailing vehicle has long belonged to ... surfers - first windsurfers, then kitesurfers (a kite serves as a sail for them). Only for a short time in 2009-2010 did the French trimaran Hydroptere keep the achievement.
But in November 2012, the Australian Paul Larsen finally returned the honor to the "normal" sailboats. Specially designed to set this record, the high-tech (carbon-titanium) and insanely expensive Vestas Sailrocket 2 catamaran did not weakly “break” surfers who could not accelerate to more than 103 km / h - and most likely will not be able to, since surfing has technical limit.
CONVENTIONAL RAIL VEHICLE:
603.0 km/h
VEHICLE: MAGNETIC CUSHION TRAIN MAGLEV L0 SERIES
POWER UNIT: LINEAR MOTOR
PILOT: TEST GROUP INCLUDING JR TOKAI TEST CENTER HEAD YASUKAZUENDO
DATE: APRIL 21, 2015
WHO WILL BEAT: THE NEXT GENERATION OF JAPANESE MAGLEV OR ALREADY HYPERLOOP
If we still take a “normal” train, and not a jet sled for military tests, then in this area the record was set quite recently. For 13 years, the result shown on the Yamanashi test site by the SCMaglev MLX01 (581 km / h) was kept, and now the next generation, the L0 Series maglev, turned out to be even faster, breaking the bar of 600 km / h for the first time in the history of passenger trains. The record train consisted of a locomotive and six cars. There were 49 employees on board. railway JR Central, and the train kept the maximum speed for 10.8 s. Such tests are carried out to find out the technical limit of the maglev system, as well as to understand how passengers feel about it. Real cruising speed L0 Series is 10 km short. By the way, if we talk about conventional rail trains, then the French SNCF TGV POS has been holding the record (574.8 km/h) for nine years now.
RAILS:
1017 km/h
VEHICLE: SONIC WIND NO.1 ROCKETS
POWER UNIT: ROCKET ENGINE
PILOT: JOHN PAUL STEP
DATE: DECEMBER 10, 1954
WHO WILL BEAT: HYPELOOP - THERE ARE NO MORE CHALLENGERS
It's not about the locomotive, but about the jet sled. It is they who hold the speed record for unmanned ground vehicles, 10,326 km/h. A jet-powered sled put on rails can reach insane speeds. In the 1950s, Americans conducted a series of tests related to the effect of superspeeds on humans. Colonel John Paul Stapp sat in a chair bolted to a sledge. During the tests, he became for some time the fastest person on earth (then even planes did not fly so fast).
UNUSUAL SPEED RECORDS
ON THE MOON:
18.0 km/h
VEHICLE: APOLLO 17 LUNAR ROVING VEHICLE )
