An excellent presentation on the technical and human side of conducting a world record attempt on salt planes in the USA.

Visibility was down to 1/2 a mile due to the heat haze at which point the Dieselmax vehicle pictured below, with Nicole from the SAE-UK events team, appeared like a pin point on the horizon

Despite the conditions the JCB team were able to establish the new world record using only 1300 of the 1500 bhp of their vehicle. Like all engineering, it’s the experience of having done the job that counts and JCB brought together years of research with external groups such as SAE-UK's company member Visioneering and Ricardo to break the world land speed record in a diesel powered car. According to Dr. Leverton crucial parts of the design were getting the engines to boost simultaneously and cooling the engines throughout using an ice compartment within the vehicle

Tyres also were critical and the testing ground for the proofing of the pneumatic tyres was used for tyre checks on the NASA shuttle. Apparently, even at its top speed the throttle was maintained at 50% which in combination with the other points above indicate that there maybe scope yet for enhanced performance. There was a hint that with greater limits of tyre performance the car could have continued its acceleration particularly if the boosting of the diesel engines could be perfected at various altitudes. There was evidence of true genius in the aerodynamic design of the vehicle which analysed the history of world speed record attempts on the salt plains of America.

It was found that aero design packages typically under perform in salt flat environments so in typical British ingenuity the faults were compensated for in a design that existed only on paper. Without any evidence of prototyping nor wind tunnel testing, the aerodynamics were set to include two sweeping arcs on the underside of the vehicle. These symmetric channels were designed to funnel air squeezed underneathf the vehicle to sweep behind the front wheels and so jet away any salt displaced by the vehicle's traction across the ground. Indeed, it is this traction which sets the diesel attempt apart from other land based speed records which use turbines and therefore thrust, rather than drive, to propel the vehicle. In actuality, it is the true driving experience at the heart of the Dieselmax.com project that sets it apart.  This is about driving the wheel at the surface and controlling the interface between man and his environment directly. Traction was an imperative driver of the project, which ruled out the easy choice of solid wheels in favour of pneumatic tyres to ensure good traction across the surface of the salt bed. Rigid tyres only work on thrust powered cars not on attempts like the Dieselmax which demands traction between the vehicle and the ground surface. Traction, from the Latin word trahere means to draw across a surface, results in the displacement of salt which can accumulate in the build up of salt deposits on the car's underside. Therefore, the jet streams contoured into the underside will have funneled air at massive pressures like a jet stream behind the front tyres to remove the residue. There was also a displacement air stream at the rear for the same purpose, making the underside of the vehicle more interesting than the contours of the vehicle over which SAE-UK's Nicole is draped below.

Bear in mind the dangers of such a project, the salt on the plains was only 6 inches thick and the water laden mud underneath would evaporate water during the sunlight hours, rendering the ground underfoot softer as each hour passed. Logic then dictates that record attempts must commence at day break where the ground was stable and there was light to steer. The salt surface, brilliant white, has been mistaken in photos for ice by some in the Southern Hemisphere, instead it’s a reflective surface that beams the sun's rays back up at the human body for those working on the Dieselmax there was an addictive but perilous relationship between the engineers and their record attempt environment. The configuration of the vehicle was also discussed; the pilot at the centre of the vehicle was designed around safety concerns as high speed wipe outs tend to result in head over tail spins.  With controlled deformation at either end of the vehicle it made sense to position the pilot in the middle so as to maximise safety

Indeed, the site of the record attempt itself was a subject of interest having being conducted at Wendover Airport in the USA home to 17,000 service men during WWII, a number twice as great as the present incumbents of that town. 

Apparently, the crew of the first nuclear missile deployment in WWII were trained there and the vehicle checks were carried out in some of the original buildings at Wendover before the vehicle was trialled on the tarmac.  The rarefied atmosphere at those heights accentuated some of the earlier issues with boosting the twin engine desing in synchronicity.  The result was an immediate requirement to ammend the desing trialed initially at a UK air base to ensure peak performance during the record challenge itself.

Some 50 or so trials were required to break the 350mph average speed on the mile that mattered during the challenge attempt.

Only on the last attempts were the speeds achieved on a race track 11.5 miles long, half of which constituted the braking cycle.

Videos were played, albeit censored for more colourful cockpit updates to the ground crew which showed exactly how the boosting challenges affected the attempt and how the skill of the piloting and engineering team were successful in beating the problems.  A moment of  true longevity in the annals of UK Engineering prowess.

The Q & A session that followed was exceptional, with the estimate of JCB's investment being leveraged by a factor of 5 in terms of marketing exposure

Surely, with such a reward the situation is favourable for further record attempt successes by European Businesses like JCB

Readers of our magazine Vehicle Technology will have witnessed our devotion to the pursuit of world record attempts.

Any guesses on which technology will win out in the end?

Until the next Chapter of our Record Breaking Reports,

Dr. Anthony Mc Donagh-Smith

Director, SAE-UK.org

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