Bogley

[Iceaxe]

stefan wrote: it must be crezy drivin' at those speeds

I heard a large banging sound when Andy Green walked :lol8:

[Iceaxe]

18 August 2006
ANNIE BERRISFORD - Bonneville Salt Flats 2:12PM (US)Well after feeling our luck was down at the beginning of the week a whole bunch of black cats would have been useful, however it seems to be that black Labradors do the trick too!!! Just before our RECORD BREAKING run, one walked out in front of the car on the start line – our fortune had changed!!!

317 mph (average over the two runs) – Yee Hah (I did actually shed a tear – it was such an emotional moment)!! We have had the most amazing week out on the salt flats, and have been overwhelmed by the support we have had from everyone at Speed Week – what a week, and such a fantastic way to end it!!!

Thank you to everybody.

Happy Birthday Mutti. Xx

Annie

[Iceaxe]

19 August 2006
WENDOVER AIRFIELD - UTAHTime: 20:45 (US)

Temperature: 30°C

Location: Wendover, Utah

Bonneville Speed Week is over and there are plenty of smiles among the team today. Work has been going on at the airfield base preparing the car for the FIA record attempt next week. During the morning both engines were hoisted out of the chassis and the fresh 750bhp ‘record’ engines removed from their Ricardo crates.

By late afternoon the new rear engine was already in the chassis and a long list of jobs was steadily being completed by the team. It was good news when an inspection of the gearboxes showed the gears “looked like new”.

The fabricators were performing “open heart surgery” on the leaking front oil tank with the aim of sealing it effectively. The speed of the runs this week has meant that the brakes have worked harder than planned so they have all been changed today.

A small crack in the windscreen and an annoying scratch meant that it needed to be changed this morning. On a lighter note, some additional minute cameras were added so the action can be viewed from more angles.

Mike Cook of the Southern Californian Timing Association took the broken parachutes away to confer with the manufacturer. The result should be two new chutes that are up to the job. An interesting aspect of parachutes is that the faster the car goes the smaller the chutes need to be otherwise the loads on the tethers simply rip the material apart.

[Iceaxe]

21 August 2006
Bonneville Salt Flats - UTAHTime: 17:55 (US)

Temperature: 33°C

Location: Wendover airfield, Utah

The team has spent the last two days replacing the 600bhp engines for the 750bhp 'record' versions in readiness for an attempt on the official diesel land speed record this week.

Preparation included checking engine pressures, fluids and for leaks before the start-up. At 12:45 the engines fired into life as everybody gathered around the car but the front engine suffered an oil leak which filled the oil system with fuel. After close scrutiny the engineers discovered the fuel pick-up pipe had collapsed.

The fuel pump was changed, the system was flushed out and the team are now preparing the car for its critical shakedown on Wendover airfield.

[Iceaxe]

NOTE: To set a World FIA record the vehicle must make two runs in opposite directions in less then one hour.

22 August 2006
WORLD'S FASTEST DIESEL - Bonneville Salt Flats, UtahTime: 15:55 (US)

Temperature: 37°C

Location: Wendover airfield, Utah

Today the JCB DIESELMAX became the ‘world’s fastest diesel’ , a fantastic and emotional day the team! The FIA timed the car at an average speed of 328.767mph subject to FIA ratification, breaking the old record of 235mph.

Before sunrise the car was already positioned at the start of the 11 mile international course on the Bonneville Salt Flats and the team radios buzzed with messages as the time to run approached.

The first run(run 54A) had been planned to warm up the engines in preparation for the pair of FIA authorised runs but Andy Green pulled to a stop after 1.5 miles when an electrical cable under the dashboard was chafed through. The car had to be recovered to the start, the engines re-heated and fresh ice added to the cooling system.

9.37am Run 54B was underway with the car running towards the massive rock on the Flats called ‘Floating Mountain’. The car went through the timed mile at 324.265mph despite the engines overheating and the power of the engines being automatically re-rated by one fifth. Following the parachute problems last week Andy Green brought the car to a halt using only the exhaust brakes and wheel brakes.

At the turnaround the race was on to complete the tyre change, re-fuelling(adding 5 litres) , fresh ice and the re-heating of the engines. With 11 minutes to spare the JCB DIESELMAX headed back along the course. Through the timed mile a fine 333.364mph speed was recorded despite Andy mistakenly braking before the end of the mile!

No matter, the record was in the bag, broken by almost 100mph. Time for a mass of media photographs and interviews before the team wheeled the car away.

Tomorrow the car will be in action again on the Salt Flats, aiming to raise the bar further! This evening there is more work to do with the aim of improving the cooling system.

[Iceaxe]

23 August 2006

Dr. TIM LEVERTON - Bonneville Salt Flats, UtahMy last blog was written late last Thursday night while surfing a wave of emotion following the first run of the JCB DIESELMAX with the car and engines working together as intended. That run was the vindication of all the effort that the whole team had put in to create a truly high speed diesel powered vehicle over the last 18 months. I knew with certainty at that point that success would eventually come to us but only after having received a serious lesson from the salt in the process.

I found the experience of watching the car deliver for the first time to be the most emotional and overwhelming moment of my engineering career to date. Everyone on this team has invested so much of themselves in this cars potential that the first signs of its performance appearing assumed enormous significance to me. I have a much clearer idea now how passion can make the crucial difference to doing something like this.

On Friday morning we took the JCB DIESELMAX out of the Bonneville Nationals impound area and ran the car again at 325mph in the last mile to set a new Bonneville class record (for the AA/DS class) of 317mph. This was the fastest single pass by a diesel powered vehicle in history and the fastest diesel record at Bonneville. In fact this record already made the JCB DIESELMAX the fastest diesel in the world but the record is not recognised by the FIA who require a 2-way pass through the mile within one hour.

On Saturday we started to organise the arrangements for setting up the international course which had been created for us by Mike Cook. As we are on the salt on our own this week we are responsible for the security and safety of all visitors including press and members of the public. Actually, there was a massive amount of work to do and without the unstinting help of Bryan Horner, Geraint Lewis and Sophy Gardner I am not sure we could have managed it. A big thankyou to them.

Richard Noble sat down with me on Saturday morning and demonstrated yet again what a formidable force he is in understanding the issues involved in running record attempts. Throughout the JCB DIESELMAX project he has generously given his experience to us and we have used that as our basis. On this occasion we went through the whole structure of the event management and I used his input to understand all the issues involved from where to place security people to how to control intinerant film crews to ensuring the course is clear prior to running. A special thanks on this occasion Richard because my brain had slowed to a snails pace in the wake of all the previous days excitement.

The salt looks very different with only JCB on it than it did in speedweek. Its easy to get lost because there are so few landmarks to navigate by. Individual stakes and markers assume high importance as you cross the wide expanse of the salt lake.

Our eleven mile course looked in excellent shape. Standing on the timing tower about 8 feet up you still cannot see the start and finish. Over this distance there is just over a 16 feet rise in the centre of the course. This is why we have had so many problems getting our radios to work from end to end of the course. Everything was ready by 5.00pm on Monday so that we could make our first record attempt on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile back in the hangar ...

It was always our plan to change the engines to the so called "record" engines and to give the car a major service. This is fraught with hazard because after 49 runs we have fixed everything on the car and in fact enjoyed excellent reliability as we have developed the cars performance. New components can introduce all sorts of new problems.

The engine change went very well and both engines were re-installed by monday morning ready for a start in the workshop. The engines both started and it was a clear illustration of how far we had come in a short time. On the weekend of 15th/16th July it had taken 16 hours to start the rear engine for the first time and the front never did run until a few days later. Now the team takes it for granted that they will simply start when requested to.

Shakedown gremlins were few. An incorrectly connected pair of pipes, an oil leak on the front engine oil cooler, and more concerningly, fuel in oil on the front engine. This latter problem was found to be a leaking seal in one of the fuel pumps. The pump was changed but all the oil had to be drained and so it took three hours or so to sort out. Consequently, the car only went out onto the runway at Wendover Airport approaching 7.00pm for 4 shakedown test runs - the second pair executed after sunset ... Fortunately, apart from some instrument panel glitches the engines ran fine including both coming onto boost together. A sigh of relief all round.

But, due to the delay in running the team could not practice the turnaround procedure we would follow for the first time the next day in order to achieve the 2-way pass inside the hour. Rod Benoist had prepared a detailed description of everyones job in the turnaround but everyone was so worn down that it was decided to brief it next morning on salt.

At 5.45am the team convoy of SUVs reached the salt and met at the start where we had breakfast and gathered for the briefing. Its amazing how, when you are acclimatised to 35degC, 21degC feels freezing so a number of us wore sweaters at least until the sun was up. I went to the pits to brief the press and film crews and the car start procedure began.

This being our first time at running the course it took a long time to be sure that there was nothing in position relative to the course that could put Andy at risk or indeed the individuals concerned. The car was ready to run some time before the course was confirmed clear. Some time after 8.00am the car started only for the run to be aborted after 1 and a half miles. This was not unexpected from my perspective with all the rebuild content and indeed the fault truned out to be an electrical short from a wire trapped under the dash panel. I was relieved to hear from Andy that the car was running well up until then. Back to the start fro another try.

9.38am and the clear to push signal comes over the radio from Alistair Macqueen and we are off again. This time the car shoots past us in the pits, where I am standing with Sir Anthony, at about 250mph. Rod informs us that the entry speed was 319mph, the exit speed 329mph, for an average in the mile of 324mph. Thats fine, if a bit lower than expected. I race round to the turnaround point and learn that both engines have overheated during the run and gone into self-protection mode and de-rated their performance by 20%.

The un-practiced turnaround goes superblly smoothly. There is no rush, just each team member doing thier job steadily and correctly. The car is jacked up and the spats and wheels removed so that new tyres can be fitted. Some time is taken to drain an oil catch tank and then the recovery vehicles are sent to the other end of the track. The clock is ticking and in fact the car is ready to return but has to wait while the recovery vehicles cover the 11 miles down the course (driving alongside the track but not on it in case of damage or debris dropping).

Our FM radios start to conk out of battery life so clearing the course is complicated but conducted carefully. The car starts again with 11 minutes to go in the hour.

I am standing at the timing tower this time and watch the car enter the flying mile at 342mph and wonder why it is slowing to 328mph on exit. Maybe the engines are overheating again? It doesn't matter. The 333mph average speed in the mile is enough for a new world diesel record of 328.767mph. The JCB DIESELMAX is also the first diesel powered car to exceed 500kph with a 529.333kph speed in the kilometre which is located inside the flying mile.

I'm not so emotional this time. Probably because I just can't take it in. Sir Anthony, and John Patterson (JCB Chief Exec.) are grinning like cheshire cats. My wife Julie hugs me and we race back to the cars and head to the start point where the car has returned. By the time we get there most of the team are lined up behind the car. As I walk towards them they are appauding and John Piper grabs me and lifts me of the ground. Handshakes, high fives, whoops of delight - its an absolutely fantastic moment. We've done it.

So, four runs, two records. Worlds fastest diesel. Job done.

I wonder how much faster we can go tomorrow....?

Dr. Tim Leverton
Project Director
JCB DIESELMAX

[Iceaxe]

23 August 2006
BONNEVILLE SALT FLATS - TWO FIA INTERNATIONAL LAND SPEED RECORDSTime: 12:45 (US)

Temperature: 38°C

Location: Wendover airfield, Utah

After the elation of breaking the long-standing diesel-powered record yesterday and the massive media attention it created, the team had to regain its focus to go back on the Salt Flats today and attempt to raise the record speed.

With the crew in place and the many film crews distributed at the key points the first run began at 07.39 with the car running towards Floating Mountain. It looked very fast and it was with Andy Green flying to a speed of 365.774mph. Faster than planned such a stunning speed was due in part to the difficulty of coping with the inevitable turbo lag that comes with JCB DIESELMAX’s immense power. Clearly the car was not short of pace as Andy has yet to use sixth gear!

By 8.20 the car had been prepared for the return run. It did not start well. The in-car video recording shows how Andy struggled to get the turbos, particularly the front one, up on to boost. Overnight changes to improve the engine’s cooling appeared to have over-achieved the objective.

After what seemed like an eternity the engine’s came on boost and Andy gunned the car to the timed mile. Despite the lost time the second run was completed with a speed of 335.695mph. Average for the two runs was 350.695mph.

The JCB DIESELMAX had set a new land speed record and achieved all of the objectives set by the project team. A wonderful result.

Some thought was given to running again the following day but by mid-afternoon Dr Tim Leverton, Project Director, addressed the whole team and told them of his decision to stop running. He explained that the team had achieved everything it set out to do!

Time for team photographs with the car on the Flats and many more media interviews for Andy and Tim before a ‘small celebration’ for the yellow army who have worked with such determination and energy.

[Iceaxe]

24 August 2006
ANNIE BERRISFORD - Bonnevill Salt Flats - Utah 11.38am (US)Thursday 24th August – 11.38 am

350 mph …… there is not a lot to say but WOW, we did it!

Yesterday was quite a rollercoaster of emotions….. the team had an incredible high as we achieved our target of 350 mph, but there was great emotion as the decision was made to stop running the car…. It was very sad to think that the reason we are over here is over and that our time on the flats is finished. I have never experienced anything like this project before and I doubt I will again. It has been a true turning point in my life and I will never forget the incredible feeling of being a member of such a team. Thank you all for everything.

Today the team are ‘delicate’ – quite a night celebrating both our new LSR but also Teena and Richard’s Birthdays.

We now have the joy of packing all of the kit in the hanger ready to be shipped back to the UK……. However as I write this the next party is already being planned……. This team has stamina!

Today’s blog picture is Wendover Willy – as previously mentioned. He is the camp cowboy that used to sit on the State line between Utah and Nevada – he has now been moved about a mile up the road into Nevada. At night time he is a neon beacon….sadly due to high maintenance costs he no longer waves his arms they were welded up a few years ago – poor chap!