[Senna4Ever]

Mods: Please move this to an appropriate thread (if one exists). Thanks!

Dear Bhpians,

I came across a poster in my college 2 days back. At first glance, I dismissed it as another one of the many lectures that keep happening. But then I took a closer look and found out that:-

Wing Commander Andy Green, the world land speed record holder and the driver of the Bloodhound SSC, is the speaker!

It's happening on the 13th of this month in Bangalore and on the 14th in Chennai. It is free to attend but pre-registration is a must. You can register on their website :-
http://events.theiet.in/LordAustin2014/

Just thought I should let the community know about it

Cheers!

[GTO]

Sweet . Tweaked the thread title a bit for more clarity.

Hope we can expect a post-lecture report from you!

[Senna4Ever]

Sure thing!

Will write a report and maybe throw in a couple of pictures.

Any Chennai BHPians attending?

[D4D]

Thanks for bringing this to my notice. Will try to attend this in Bangalore.

[Senna4Ever]

Well first of all, my sincere apologies for the extremely late update, I had my semester exams and now that I am back home, I finally have time to write about the IET Lord Austin Lecture that happened in my college on the 14th of November.

So, the worlds' fastest man was in our campus, and it's a bit hard to believe that I got the rare opportunity to see and listen to THE FATEST HUMAN BEING ON EARTH.

Wing Commander Andy Green comes across as a very knowledgable and enthusiastic individual, who also happens to have a great sense of humour ( Britain vs the world type ), with his lecture being full of one-liners and humorous takes on his record attempt and the challenges they've faced.

He started off by giving a brief history of the land speed records, how they started, and who's beaten who over the years.
Then, he talked about his previous record in the Thrust SSC ( Super Sonic Car ), and the fact that the idea of slapping 2 jet engines on the sides could actually be translated into a world record.

He also explained to us how this record attempt is helping and encouraging the spreading of ideas and innovation in schools in Britain and elsewhere. We were told about a cash-strapped school which had set a Guiness World record in their own playgroud,
for a model rocket car, inspired by the Bloodhound SSC.

Coming to the Bloodhound SSC, he told us about every aspect of the car - the chassis, the power source, the aerodynamics, the location , and so on.

He told us the chassis of the vehicle is actually divided into two parts - a Carbon fibre monocoque ( which happens to be the biggest ever made ) for the front half, and a super strong frame for the back end. Interestingly, the material for the rear frame has been supplied by Tata Steel, so that's where he highlighted an Indian connection. As for the power, the car uses a Cosworth V8 F1 Engine only to pump fuel to the jet engine, which was sourced from a Norwegian company.

Another interesting aspect was the location of their record attempt, as the place had to be long and flat enough. They started with the most obvious contendor, the Bonneville salt flats, but as far as I can remember, it was rejected due to the deteriorating condition of the surface.
They then turned to satellites, and were able to identify some 20 ( can't remember the exact number ) possible locations around the world. Even the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat was considered. Eventually, a location in South Africa was finalised. But there was a problem. The entire surface was covered in small stones, so obviously they had to get rid of them.
What resulted was a massive cleanup operation of the whole 20 x 2 km area by workers provided by the government.

The team have performed some radio tests at the place, so that the attempt can be streamed live on the internet.

With this I would like to wish all the very best to the whole team and hope that they achieve their goals!