Sonic Wind - a "car" that develops speeds up to 3200 km / h?

Ever since the British Thrust SSC (1227 km/h) set the current land speed record in 1997, work has been underway around the world to make it even faster. However, none of them is expected to reach speeds of more than 3200 km / h, unlike the Waldo Stakes.

Andy Green's speed record has not yet been broken. He managed to push it to over 1200 km/h in a jet car built by Richard Noble, Glynn Bowsher, Ron Ayers and Jeremy Bliss. The tests took place at the bottom of a dried-up salt lake in the Black Rock Desert in the US state of Nevada.

Setting the record, Green broke the sound barrier. The next barrier that the designers of machines like the Bloodhound SSC or the Aussie Invader 5 want to overcome is 1000 mph (over 1600 km / h). However, Waldo Stakes wants to go even further. The American intends to set a score of 3218 km/h (2000 mph). This means that he must create a vehicle capable of moving at a speed of 900 meters per second.

The ambitious Californian has spent the last 9 years of his life working on the Sonic Wind project, which he calls "the fastest and most powerful vehicle that has ever traveled the surface of the Earth."

Interestingly, in order for this vehicle to be called a car, it must meet only one condition - it must have four wheels. The source of its propulsion is the XLR99 rocket engine built in the 60s by NASA. Although this design is almost 50 years old, the flight speed record is still held by the X-15 aircraft on which this installation was operated. He managed to accelerate in the air to 7274 km / h.

At the speed that this Sonic Wind has to travel at, the stability of the car remains a big issue. However, Stakes believes that he was able to find a solution using the unique body shape. “The idea is to use all the forces acting on the car while driving. The front of the body is designed in such a way as to reduce lift. The two fins keep the rear axle stable and also keep the car on the ground,” Stakes explains.

Currently, the problem of the driver remains unresolved. So far, the American has not yet found a daredevil who would like to sit at the helm of Sonic Wind.