The World's Fastest Car~ "The Bloodhound SSC"

Uploaded on May 5, 2010

 twofreshproductions 

http://www.enfield-ebp.org.uk in partnership with http://www.bloodhoundssc.com bring the worlds fastest car to London in order to inspire children to take up science and engineering.

Bloodhound SSC (officially capitalised BLOODHOUND SSC, BLOODHOUND supersonic car) is a car created by the international education initiative Bloodhound Project (BLOODHOUND Project) to attempt a 1,000 mph world land speed record.

The team aim to break the land speed record with the pencil-shaped car, powered by a jet engine and a rocket designed to reach 1,000 miles per hour (1,609 km/h) together with a Cosworth CA2010 Formula 1 V8 petrol engine auxiliary power unit.

It is being developed and built with the intention of breaking the land speed record by 33%, the largest ever margin.^[1]

If £15 million of sponsorship funding is obtained the construction should be complete by the end of 2012 and the record attempts should take place in 2013 and 2014.^[2]

BLOODHOUND SSC will be tested on the Hakskeen Pan, Northern Cape, South Africa where a track 20 km long, 500 m wide has been cleared by a local workforce, employed by the Northern Cape Government.

Bloodhound SSC

Logo of the project and image of the vehicle
Predecessor	ThrustSSC
Class	Land speed record vehicle
Engine	Rolls-Royce Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan Falcon HTP hybrid rocket Cosworth CA2010 Formula 1 V8 race engine (APU)
Length	13.5 m (44 ft)
Width	1.9 m (6.2 ft)
Kerb weight	6,422 kg (14,160 lb) (fuelled)

Development

The project was announced on 23 October 2008 at the Science Museum in London by Lord Drayson - then Minister of Science in the UK's Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills - who in 2006 first proposed the project to Richard Noble and Andy Green (the two men, between them, have held the land speed record for 29 years).

Richard Noble, engineer, adventurer, and former paint salesman,^[3] reached 633 mph (1,019 km/h) driving turbojet-powered car named Thrust2 across the Nevada desert in 1983. In 1997, he headed the project to build the ThrustSSC, driven by Andy Green, an RAF pilot, at 763 mph (1,228 km/h), thereby breaking the sound barrier, a record first for a land vehicle (in compliance with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile rules).

The task of driving the Bloodhound will fall to Wing Commander Green, who will lie feet-first in the Bloodhound SSC. As the car accelerates from 0-1,000 miles per hour (1,609 km/h) in 42 seconds, he will experience a force of approximately 2.5g (two-and-a-half times his body weight) and blood will rush to his head.

To slow the vehicle, Green will deploy air-brakes at 800 mph (1,300 km/h), and subsequently parachutes at 600 mph (970 km/h), with disc brakes used below 250 mph (400 km/h). As he decelerates, experiencing forces of up to 3g, blood will drain to his feet, with a risk of driver blackout. To condition his body for these intense g-forces, he will practice in a stunt aircraft, flying upside-down over the British countryside.

Design

The project is based in the former Maritime Heritage Centre on the Bristol harbourside, located next to Brunel's SS Great Britain. This building has been renamed the Bloodhound Technical Centre (BLOODHOUND Technical Centre).^{[citation needed]}

Aerodynamics

The College of Engineering at Swansea University has been heavily involved in the aerodynamic shape of the vehicle from the start. Professor Oubay Hassan, Professor Ken Morgan and their team have used Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in order to provide an understanding of the aerodynamic characteristics of the proposed shape, at all speeds, including predicting the likely vertical, lateral and drag forces on the vehicle and its pitch and yaw stability.^[4]

This technology, originally developed for the aerospace industry, was validated for a land-going vehicle during the design of ThrustSSC. It was this involvement with the previous land speed record that prompted Richard Noble to approach Swansea in April 2007 to see if they could help with this latest challenge.

Swansea University's School of the Environment and Society was also enlisted to help determine a new test site for the record as the test site for the ThrustSSC record attempt has become unsuitable.^[5]
 

Wheels

The four 36-inch (910 mm) diameter wheels will rotate at up to 10,200 rpm and will be forged from solid aluminium to resist the 50,000 g centrifugal forces.^[6]

Construction

 Engineers produced the scale model which was exhibited at the launch, and will integrate the engineering behind the car into its curriculum, working with design team, led by Chief Engineer Mark Chapman. The car will be built at a site in Bristol.^[7] 

The site will include an educational centre.^[8] A full scale model was unveiled at the 2010 Farnborough International Airshow,^[9] when it was announced that Hampson Industries would begin to build the rear chassis section of the car in the first quarter of 2011 and that a deal for the manufacture of the front of the car was due.

Chief Engineer Mark Chapman says, "We aim to shake down the vehicle on a runway in the UK at the beginning of 2013."

Full scale model

Education

The Bloodhound Project is first and foremost an education project designed to inspire future generations to take up careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by showcasing these subjects in the most exciting way possible.

The education program covers all phases (ages) of education from primary through to secondary and further education, plus Bloodhound@University. Any school, teacher, youth group or home educated family in the world can register their details on the BLOODHOUND SSC website and download the free curriculum resource materials.

Education institutions in the UK or South Africa can request a visit from a member of the Bloodhound education team or STEM Ambassador who will work alongside a teacher and deliver a presentation on the project.

There are also workshop activities for schools with a focus on learners aged between 9 and 14 years of age and the reasons why Hakskeenpan in the Northern Cape has been selected to run BLOODHOUND SSC.

The Bloodhound education program is also working with other STEM interventions and initiatives to ensure the Project reaches as many schools as possible. These include F1 in Schools (Bloodhound Class), the Smallpeice Trust, Primary Engineer, Science Made Simple and Young Engineers^.

 Uploaded on Oct 24, 2008

 equinoxgraphics

Equinox Graphics is proud to present the visualization of Bloodhound SSC, the trans-sonic rocket car aiming to smash the current land speed record and raise it to a mind-bending 1000 mph (Mach 1.4).

The car is being designed and built in Britain, and Equinox Graphics has had the privilege of working in association with the design team to bring the car to life.

The minute-long viral video was produced on time and at High Definition (1920x1080, 25fps, full GI/radiosity) in just three weeks - including rendering time on our computer cluster.

The animation has proved extremely popular with the world's media, and has proved to be the ideal medium for engaging the public's imagination. It has so far been featured on BBC news (TV and online), and on stations as diverse as CNN and Al Jazeera.

More detail at www.bloodhoundssc.com and www.equinoxgraphics.net

 

 

Source: Wikipedia 

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Thrust SSC~ "Supersonic Land Speed Record"

 

Uploaded on Apr 19, 2007

 PrivateCustard 

On the 15th October 1997 Thrust SSC became the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier. Piloted by Wing Commander Andy Green of the RAF, an average speed of 763.035mph over the flying mile was achieved

The music is from the game GTR2 and is called Spa 24hrs.

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1960 Vespa 400 Micro-car~ "With a 1200cc Harley Davidson Sportster Engine"

 

Uploaded on Jun 13, 2010

 

I've had a ton of emails asking for more shots of the build and video of it running down the street. Here a short clip to give you some idea of what we did to build this wild ride. Its a mix of video and photos. Of course, there was ALOT more to it than just what you see here.
Enjoy!

The Vespa 400 is a rear-engined microcar, produced by ACMA (Ateliers de construction de motocycles et d'automobiles) in Fourchambault, France, from 1957 to 1961 to the designs of the Italian Piaggio company. Two different versions were sold, "Lusso" and "Turismo".

The car made its public debut on 26 September 1957 at a press presentation staged in Monaco.^[2] The ACMA directors ensured a good attendance from members of the press by also inviting three celebrity racing divers^[3] to the Vespa 400 launch.^[2]

The 400 was a two seater with room behind the seats to accommodate luggage or two small children on an optional cushion. The front seats were simple tubular metal frames with cloth upholstery on elastic "springs" and between the seats were the handbrake, starter and choke.

The gear change was centrally floor mounted. The rear hinged doors were coated on the inside with only a thin plastic lining attached to the metal door panel skin allowing valuable extra internal space.

On the early cars the main door windows did not open which attracted criticism, but increased the usable width for the driver and passenger. Instrumentation was very basic with only a speedometer and warning lights for low fuel, main beam, dynamo charging and indicators.

The cabriolet fabric roof could be rolled back from the windscreen header rail to the top of the rear engine cover leaving conventional metal sides above the doors.

The 12 volt battery was located at the front of the car, behind the dummy front grill, on a shelf that could be slid out. The spare wheel was stowed in a well under the passenger seat.^[2]

Vespa 400

Manufacturer	ACMA
Production	1957-1961
Assembly	Fourchambault, France
Class	microcar
Body style	2-door Cabrio coach Turismo
Layout	RR layout
Engine	24.0 cu in (0.4 L), I2, Two-stroke
Transmission	3-speed manual
Wheelbase	1,693 mm (66.7 in)
Length	2,850 mm (112.2 in)
Width	1,100 mm (43.3 in)
Height	50 in (1,270 mm) [1]
Curb weight	375 kg (827 lb)

 

Specifications

Engine

Two cylinder, two stroke, air cooled. Bore, stroke: 63 mm x 63 mm (393 cc). Motor cyclists at the time were used to mixing oil into their fuel, but the manufacturer belatedly realised that this might compromise the 400's standing as a "car", and from the summer of 1958 "two stroke oil" was held in separate reservoir with a semi-automatic dispenser on the right side of the engine bay.^[2]

Compression ratio

6.4:1 with 12 hp, later increased respectively to 6.6:1 and 14 hp.^[2]

Suspension

Four wheel independent. Four double acting hydraulic shock absorbers with coil springs. Front anti-roll bar.

Manual transmission

3 speed plus reverse, with 2nd & 3rd synchromesh. 4 speed available in non-U.S. markets.

Brakes

Hydraulically operated drums of 6.75 in (171 mm) diameter.

Performance

With only 18 hp (13 kW), top speed is 50 to 55 mph (80 to 90 km/h), depending on road grade, wind conditions, etc. Achieving top speed takes a leisurely 25 seconds. Fuel economy is about 5L/100KM.

The British Motor magazine tested a 400 de luxe saloon in 1959 recording a top speed of 51.8 mph (83.4 km/h) and acceleration from 0-40 mph (64 km/h) in 23.0 seconds and a fuel consumption of 55.3 miles per imperial gallon (5.11 L/100 km; 46.0 mpg_-US).

The test car cost 351,725 "old" French Francs,^[1] usefully cheaper than the 374,000 "old" French Francs domestic market starting price quoted towards the end of 1958 for the cheapest version of the larger but (even) less powerful Citroen 2CV.^[2]

Vespa 400 Engine

 

Vespa 400 Dashboard

 

^{Source: Wikipedia} 

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How Its Made~ "Vespa"

Uploaded on Aug 14, 2009
 rmschvey

A visit to the Vespa scooter factory.

Vespa [ˈvɛspa] is an Italian brand of scooter manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian.

The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy—to a full line of scooters and one of seven companies today owned by Piaggio—now Europe's largest manufacturer of two-wheeled vehicles and the world's fourth largest motorcycle manufacturer by unit sales.^[1]

From their inception, Vespa scooters have been known for their painted, pressed steel unibody which combines a complete cowling for the engine (enclosing the engine mechanism and concealing dirt or grease), a flat floorboard (providing foot protection), and a prominent front fairing (providing wind protection) into a structural unit.

History

Post World War II Italy, in light of its agreement to cessation of war activities with the Allies, had its aircraft industry severely restricted in both capability and capacity.

Piaggio emerged from the conflict with its Pontedera fighter plane plant demolished by bombing. Italy's crippled economy and the disastrous state of the roads did not assist in the re-development of the automobile markets.

Enrico Piaggio, the son of Piaggio's founder Rinaldo Piaggio, decided to leave the aeronautical field in order to address Italy's urgent need for a modern and affordable mode of transportation for the masses.

Concept

The inspiration for the design of the Vespa dates back to Pre-World War II Cushman scooters made in Nebraska, USA. These olive green scooters were in Italy in large numbers, ordered originally by Washington as field transport for the Paratroops and Marines.

The US military had used them to get around Nazi defense tactics of destroying roads and bridges in the Dolomites (a section of the Alps) and the Austrian border areas.

Vespa 150 TAP, modified by the French military, that incorporated an anti tank weapon

Design

In 1944, Piaggio engineers Renzo Spolti and Vittorio Casini designed a motorcycle with bodywork fully enclosing the drivetrain and forming a tall splash guard at the front. In addition to the bodywork, the design included handlebar-mounted controls, forced air cooling, wheels of small diameter, and a tall central section that had to be straddled. Officially known as the MP5 ("Moto Piaggio no. 5"), the prototype was nicknamed "Paperino" (either 'duckling' or Donald Duck in Italian).^[2]

Piaggio MP5 "Paperino", the initial Piaggio prototype

 

Enrico Piaggio was displeased with the MP5, especially the tall central section. He contracted aeronautical engineer Corradino D'Ascanio, to redesign the scooter.^[2]
D'Ascanio, who had earlier been consulted by Ferdinando Innocenti about scooter design and manufacture, made it immediately known that he hated motorcycles, believing them to be bulky, dirty, and unreliable.^[3]

D'Ascanio's MP6 prototype had its engine mounted beside the rear wheel. The wheel was driven directly from the transmission, eliminating the drive chain and the oil and dirt associated with it. The prototype had a unit spar frame with stress-bearing steel outer panels.^[3]

These changes allowed the MP6 to have a step-through design without a centre section like that of the MP5 Paperino. The MP6 design also included a single sided front suspension, interchangeable front and rear wheels mounted on stub axles, and a spare wheel. Other features of the MP6 were similar to those on the Paperino, including the handlebar-mounted controls and the enclosed bodywork with the tall front splash guard.^[2]

Upon seeing the MP6 for the first time Enrico Piaggio exclaimed: "Sembra una vespa!" ("It resembles a wasp!") Piaggio effectively named his new scooter on the spot.^[3][4] Vespa is both Latin and Italian for wasp—derived from the vehicle's body shape: the thicker rear part connected to the front part by a narrow waist, and the steering rod resembled antennae. The name also refers to the high-pitched noise of the two-stroke engine.^{[citation needed]}
 

Product

On 23 April 1946, at 12 o'clock in the central office for inventions, models and makes of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Florence, Piaggio e C. S.p.A. took out a patent for a "motorcycle of a rational complexity of organs and elements combined with a frame with mudguards and a casing covering the whole mechanical part".^[5]

The basic patented design allowed a series of features to be deployed on the spar-frame which would later allow quick development of new models. The original Vespa featured a rear pillion seat for a passenger, or optionally a storage compartment.

The original front protection "shield" was a flat piece of aero metal; later this developed in to a twin skin to allow additional storage behind the front shield, similar to the glove compartment in a car. The fuel cap was located underneath the (hinged) seat, which saved the cost of an additional lock on the fuel cap or need for additional metal work on the smooth skin.

The scooter had rigid rear suspension and small 8-inch (200 mm) wheels that allowed a compact design and plenty of room for the rider's legs.

The Vespa's enclosed, horizontally-mounted two-stroke 98 cc engine acted directly on the rear drive wheel through a three-speed transmission. The twistgrip-controlled gear change involved a system of rods. The early engine had no cooling, but fan blades were soon attached to the flywheel (otherwise known as the magneto, which houses the points and generates electricity for the bike and for the engine's spark) to push air over the cylinder's cooling fins.

The modern Vespa engine is still cooled this way. The mixture of two-stroke oil in the fuel produced high amounts of smoke, and the engine made a high buzzing sound like a wasp.^{[citation needed]}

The MP6 prototype had large grilles on the front and rear of the rear fender covering the engine. This was done to allow air in to cool the engine, as the prototype did not have fan cooling. A cooling fan similar to that used on the MP5 "Paperino" prototype was included in the design of the production Vespa, and the grilles were removed from the fender.^[2]

Glove box on newer Vespa PX.

Launch

Piaggio filed a patent for the Vespa scooter design in April 1946. The application documents referred to a "model of a practical nature" for a "motorcycle with rationally placed parts and elements with a frame combining with mudguards and engine-cowling covering all working parts", of which "the whole constitutes a rational, comfortable motorcycle offering protection from mud and dust without jeopardizing requirements of appearance and elegance".

The patent was approved the following December.

The first 13 examples appeared in spring 1946, and reveal their aeronautical background. In the first examples, one can recognize the typical aircraft technology. Attention to aerodynamics is evident in all the design, in particular on the tail. It was also one of the first vehicles to use monocoque construction (where the body is an integral part of the chassis).

The company was aiming to manufacture the new Vespa in large numbers, and their longstanding industrial experience led to an efficient Ford-style volume production line.

The scooter was presented to the press at Rome Golf Club, where journalists were apparently mystified by the strange, pastel coloured, toy-like object on display. But the road tests were encouraging, and even with no rear suspension the machine was more manoeuvrable and comfortable to ride than a traditional motorcycle.

Following its public debut at the 1946 Milan Fair, the first fifty sold slowly—then with the introduction of payment by installments, sales took off.

There is Tons more Info on the Vespa and its History at Wikipedia.org Check it Out!

Source: Wikipedia

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