Cast iron wheels for Bloodhound SSC

In 1997, Engineer, Richard Noble and his driver, Andy Green, made the World Land Speed Record at 763 mph (1227.985km/h). Now Richard and his team are back to beat their own record with supersonic, jet and hybrid rocket car, Bloodhound SSC, and a little help from Ross Handling.

In 1997, Engineer, Richard Noble and his driver, Andy Green, made the World Land Speed Record at 763 mph (1227.985km/h). Now Richard and his team are back to beat their own record with supersonic, jet and hybrid rocket car, Bloodhound SSC, and a little help from Ross Handling.

The project, which began in 2008, will see Andy Green hit speeds of 1,000 mph in just 42 seconds, before a mixture of air brakes, friction brakes and if required, a parachute bring him to a stop. To ensure that the vehicle can handle such harsh acceleration and braking, the vehicle will be rigorously tested over the next 12 months, which is where we come in!

Lead designer, Mark Elvin, explains, “In order to ascertain the effects acceleration has on the car fuel system, we will build a rig to articulate the fuel cell to replicate the effects of g-force before the car even runs. To do this we needed high quality cast iron wheels, which will ensure the rig runs smoothly on the ground within the test cell.”

After searching online for a suitable stockist, they came across Ross Handling. Mark continues, “The wheels arrived quickly and were exactly what we were looking for. The official fuel tests will take place a week before Christmas so we are unable to give any details until then, but we have no doubt that we made a great choice!”

Richard and his team will be attempting an 800mph World Land Speed Record in October 2017, at Hakskeen Pan, South Africa followed by a 1000mph record attempt in 2018. We wish them the best of luck and look forward to finding out how they got on with their new wheels in December!