Most people are perfectly felicitous cruise theircarsdown the interstate at a sizeable 65 mph . Others crave more speed and achieve it by bring biggerengines , superchargersand other automotivemuscle . And still others †” those rare kick - seekers experience as speed addict want one thing and one matter only : the fastest car on the planet and designation as the"World Speed King . “Since 1997 , that designation has belonged to theBritish Thrust SSC , which became the first car ever to break thesound barrierwhen driver Andy Green sweet-talk the jet - power fomite to a speed of 763 mph .
But a North American team is on track to change all of that . lead by Ed Shadle and Keith Zanghi , the team hop to guide its entry – theNorth American Eagle– into the disc Holy Scripture by wear the populace land speed record and bringing the deed of conveyance of World ’s Fastest Car back to theNorth Americancontinent . In this clause , we ’ll examine how the North American Eagle works , as well as the steps that must come for any car to set an prescribed estate speeding phonograph record .
What is the North American Eagle?
The North American Eagle is acar , but only in a strictly pedantic sense . It has wheels , anengine , instrumentation and a place for the driver to seat . That ’s where the comparisons end , however .
It ’s closer to the true statement to call the North American Eagle a jet on wheel . In fact , the motorcar ’s chassis is base on the fuselage of an plane known as theF-104 Starfighter . innovate by Lockheed Corporation in 1954 , the Starfighter was the first operational military jet subject of free burning flight at Mach 2 , or twice the velocity of sound . It was phase out in 1967 in favor of newer planes , but even today the sleek , flowing fountain looks like it was built for speed . Shadle and Zanghi were clearly interested in the aerodynamic quality of the Starfighter when they bought the decommission aeroplane from a supernumerary aircraft dealer in Maine for $ 25,000 . To convert it into a gondola , the North American Eagle team covered thewing roots(the wings had already been removed ) and supply asuspension organisation . The team also made modifications to a powerfulturbojet engine , the same type that impel the fighter jet to over twice the speed of audio in the tune with flank , which the car uses as its beginning of power .
As you may imagine , the North American Eagle is not a fomite someone would drive on the streets . Instead , it belong to a group of cars known as land speed racers . In prescribed competition , state speed racer must stand by to strict rules and regularization launch by theFederation Internationale de L’Automobile ( FIA ) , the independent governing body of most eccentric of automobile racing . The FIA agnise several classes of land speed racers , based on their overall design and reference of power , and acknowledges phonograph record - holders in each . The North American Eagle competes in the Special Construction class , which itself includes three categories : Unlimited Streamliners , LakestersandUnlimiteds .
World Speed King. See morepictures of exotic cars.
The Unlimited category was developed specifically for vehicles that rely onjet or rocket salad propulsionto increase speed . K propulsion pass off when fuel is burned in the mien of oxygen from the atmospheric state , creating a current of expanding gases that , when expel through a nozzle , bring forth thrust . Rocket propulsionis free-base on like principles except the oxygen is transported along with the fuel . The North American Eagle , of course , is a blue jet - propelled fomite that takes advantage of a General Electric LM-1500 turbojet engine . We ’ll blab more about the locomotive engine in the next section , but you should sleep with that the LM-1500 can get , in its in full enhance form , 52,000horsepower– almost 375 prison term more power than the average Honda Civic .
Although anything lead when it comes to thrust , Unlimiteds must meet other stringent blueprint requirements . For example , they ca n’t utilize any winged surfaces to control the fomite and must have a minimum of four wheel . vehicle with three wheels are not considered car at all and must compete asmotorcycles .
Unlimiteds have systematically load the bound of earth speed since the FIA constitute the class in 1964 . car such as the Green Monster , Spirit of America , Thrust II and Thrust SSC raced through the record books , surpass the 500 mph milestone , the 600 miles per hour milepost , the 700 mph milepost and , finally , thesound barrier , which is 760 mph at a temperature of 15ºC and sea - level pressure . The end of the North American Eagle is to beat the current country speed record of 763 miles per hour averaged speed †” and to become the riotous car ever to rush across the surface of theearth .
World Speed King. See morepictures of exotic cars.
Major Systems of the North American Eagle
Although the North American Eagle is unlike anycaryou’ll see on the interstate highway , it has many of the major self-propelled systems you would find on a yield fomite . Let ’s burst the Eagle down and see what makes it move so tight .
ChassisThe North American Eagle chassis , which maintain all of the canonical property of the Starfighter fuselage , is 56 feet tenacious , seven feet wide at the nose and nine feet broad at the hind end . As you’re able to opine , transporting such a large fomite position quite a challenge . To move it from site to web site , the squad uses a Volvodieseltractor pulling a full - sized trucking rig - trailer .
SuspensionAs a airplane , the Starfighter did n’t require asuspensionsystem to aid absorb the shocks and bump that come from drive over a rocky surface . As a car , the North American Eagle must be able to navigate imperfections in the road without losing speed or compromise vehicle stability . The car will only operate on a teetotal mud lake layer that is wholly free of imperfection for the entire streamlet distance ; no roads . This is why the Black Rock desert is a good locus for record attempts . The team solved the trouble by using a gas jounce system to debar the front of the car . The rearward hiatus is found on a rectangular human body , constructed of orthogonal blade tubing arranged in a delta , or triangular , contour towards the prat . This framing is made of mild ( or low carbon)steel , which is cheap , strong and well mould .
World Speed King. See morepictures of exotic cars.
EngineThe turbofan engine locomotive engine that powers the North American Eagle is typical of most commercial and military aircraft . If you take How Gas Turbine Engines Work , you ’ll see that these engines dwell of turbines , a burning bedroom , fuel injectorsand a compressor . The compressor take up air into the combustion chamber , where O is used to combust fuel . As the fuel burns , exhaustgases are directed toward the turbines . One Seth of turbine instantly drives the compressor via a slam . The other turbines circumvolve freely and create a high - f number current of line that is directed through a nose . This gamy - speeding flow of air generates force free-base on Newton ’s third police force of move ( for every natural process , there is an equal and polar reaction ) .
The Eagle ’s LM-1500 engine is the civilian version of the J-79 - 15 engine used in military aircraft such as the F-4 Phantom . It measures three foundation in diam and weighs 3,840 Ezra Pound . The compressor is link up by a single spear to the turbines and has 17 stage to feed super - oxygen - copious melodic line to the fuel pumped in by the injector . Both the fuel nozzles and the burning canisters are ceramic - coated , which facilitate dilute heat and give rise 13 percent more power .
At idle , the locomotive engine consumes 18 gallon of jet-propelled plane fuel per minute . The team has two different models of the LM-1500 ; one produces a aggregate of 42,500horsepowerfor low speed testing , and a second one has ceramic finishing on the turbine blades and burn canisters , which will create as much as 52,000 HP for high fastness record runs .
WheelsThe North American Eagle rides on five wheels – one in front to steer , two side - by - side on an offset mid - chassis axle and two in the rear . For low - speed runs ( under 350 mph ) , the wheel come equipped with gumshoe tyre . For gamey - hurrying political campaign ( up to 800 miles per hour ) , the stock aircraft wheels are removed and replace with solid office Al wheels with a titanium band on the outside run surface of the wheel for greater strength and focus memory , machine specifically for use on the Eagle . Notiresare used in the high - speed configuration .
Braking SystemsSlowing a fomite down fromsupersonicspeeds requires a phased approach using multiple technologies . arrogate the Eagle is traveling at its target speed of 800 mph , here ’s howbrakingworks :
CockpitThe cockpit of the North American Eagle put up a single number one wood who is strapped into position by an extra - wide of the mark seat belt with a five - level bond . rather of asteeringwheel , the driver will feel the Starfighter†™ s original flight stick . Ahydraulicsystem communicates input from the cockpit to the front rack , allowing the driver to direct the elevator car right or forget . A very basic instrument panel , which includes temperature bore , fuel and oil pressure gauges , air speed index and Mach meter , is visible just beyond the flight stick . And a radio activate the driver to pass with basis crew fellow member and other living personnel who help supervise the stipulation of the track and other variable that could involve the issue of the raceway .
Designing for Supersonic Speeds
One of the biggest challenge the North American Eagle face is overcoming issues related to traveling at supersonic upper . At such speeds ( i.e. , greater than the stop number of sound ) , the car will produceshock wavesthat can impress the stableness of the vehicle and produce asonic boom . Let ’s take a spry look at how these electrical shock waves chassis and how the North American Eagle will compensate for them .
As an object moves through the air , it pushes air molecule out of the manner , create moving ridge of compressed and uncompressed air . These tune pressure waves move aside from the object in all focussing at the speed of sound . As long as the target travel slower than the speed of sound , it will not catch up to the pressure Wave . But if the object travels at the speed of speech sound or quicker , it catch up to the atmospheric pressure waves and start pushing on them , piling up the waves as they ’re make . These pile - up waves are called shock waves .
When the jolt waving reach the background , they can be sensed as a transonic roaring . The loudness of the sonic godsend is set by several factors : the length between the object and the ground , the size and conformation of the object , and atmospheric conditions , including air pressure , temperature and malarky . Sonic booms have been well - studied in plane , but less so in vehicles traveling just a few inches above the ground .
One problem with land speed cable car is that the shock waves building up at the nose can create an upward force that lifts the car off the land . The North American Eagle team has installedcanards– minuscule extension - like projection – to bring home the bacon extra stability and dominance . If you ’ve ever stuck your hand out the windowpane of a railcar go 60 miles per hour , then you have a feeling for how canard work . Their slant in the line stream can either create anupward forceor adownward military group . In the case of the North American Eagle , the system will be controlled severally of the equipment driver by a figurer . It will supervise a load sensor on the front axle . The project ’s testing program will be verifying that the software program on the electronic computer will adequately adjust the canard down slightly to employ just enough , but not too much , down - force to keep the front cycle from leaving the earth and prevent a nose up mental attitude .
give-up the ghost for the RecordOf course , have a car that will move faster than the upper of speech sound is just part of the problem . You also have to find a place to hie it safely – and to have your results formally measured and realise as a true world estate speed record . In North America , there are only a few places suitable for land focal ratio racing . That ’s because domain speed race car involve a long running ( as much as 15 miles or more ! ) of extremely open , bland soil . Daytona Beach was used until 1935 . Then racers turned their attending to the Bonneville Salt Flats , a stretchiness of barren salt flat covering about 100 solid mile in northwestern Utah . Bonneville was the favourite North American website for state speed racing until 1983 . However , the stab of the jet railway locomotive get the alloy wheels to fishtail on the hard salt when accelerating . Also , the distance which now subsist is only a total of seven mil due to salt mining over the preceding several decades , make the running much too short to use . For those rationality Black Rock Desert in Nevada has been used since . Black Rock Desert volunteer more open space , and , because it used to be the bottom of a lake instead of a saltwater sea , it causes lesscorrosionto the cars .
To go for the record book , the North American Team will have to transport the railroad car to Nevada and bid officials from the FIA . Then , over the course of several calendar week , the team will set the vehicle and make a run for the criminal record . An prescribed trial consist of two trials , each in diametric directions and average . The second run must recruit the clock area within 60 minutes after leaving the timed mile area of the first runm to qualify under the existing dominion .
The time for each trial run is measured along a one - international mile stretch called themeasured mile . The official time is the average of the two trial times . For representative , here is how the Thrust SSC team did it in 1997 when they set the world land speed book :
To break the record set by the Thrust SSC team , the North American Eagle must be at least one percentage quicker – or roughly 770 miles per hour ( Mach 1.03 ) . So far , the North American Eagle has reached a top speed of only 312 mph , recorded in March 2005 , but that was on low-spirited - upper aircrafttiresrated at 350 miles per hour . With aluminum wheels and afterburners kicking in , the team expects that the car could hit 800 mph .
The Race to the RaceThe North American Eagle ’s official run for the earthly concern land speed disk will have to wait as the squad raises more money and finish pluck the design of the car . In the interim , one or two other teams are exercise on car that might challenge the record . One such competitor is Steve Fossett ; the record - settingmillionairewho late purchased Craig Breedlove ’s Spirit of America and is modifying the vehicle for an October 2007 record book attempt . At a 2006 press conference , Fossett evidence reporters that he think his alter Spirit of America can reach speed of 800 mph .
F-104 Starfighter in flight.
The North American Eagle , of course , hopes to be first – and faster . This live to prove that in land speed racing , the race to the starting line is just as crucial as the race to the finis .
Lots More Information
relate HowStuffWorks Articles
More groovy tie-in
Sources
F-104 Starfighter in flight.
F-104 Starfighter in flight.
A turbofan engine being tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA.
The Spirit of America at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois.
The basic components of a gas turbine engine.
The basic components of a gas turbine engine.
The basic components of a gas turbine engine.
The parachute deploys to slow the Eagle down on its way to stop.
The North American Eagle cockpit
Diagram of shock waves.
Diagram of shock waves.
Diagram of shock waves.
Illustration of where the canards are located (in blue).
Black Rock Desert, Nevada
Steve Fossett
World Speed King. See morepictures of exotic cars.
F-104 Starfighter in flight.
A turbofan engine being tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA.
The Spirit of America at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois.
The basic components of a gas turbine engine.
The parachute deploys to slow the Eagle down on its way to stop.
The North American Eagle cockpit
Diagram of shock waves.
Illustration of where the canards are located (in blue).
Black Rock Desert, Nevada
Steve Fossett
