British Steam Car Challenge
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Watch out for more television coverage
The British Steam Car Team were featured on the BBC 1 Inside Out programme (South region) on 19th October at 7.30pm, as a two-part special.
The first on the 19th covered the UK car development and testing, and the USA record will be aired on the 26th October. If you are not in the South region you can view it on Sky channel 984, or BBC iplayer.
Blue Peter, The One Show and BBC 2 documentary will be broadcast on either the 17th or 18th November – and will be confirmed with scheduling by November 3rd. We will keep you posted with steam team news!
The Challenge Car - UK tour
The Car is currently undergoing a tour to find out where to see this amazing car please go to the Challenge Car Tour page.
The British Steam Car team successfully broke the Steam Car Land Speed Record August 2009
On 26th August 2009 the British team successfully recorded a speed of 148.308mph over the measured kilometer.
The world record became headline news but within the steaming press and nationally (see link below to the BBC website).
The Steam Car Team are now hoping to tour the car around the UK over the next year - so hopefully we will all get a chance to see this amazing machine.
For more information, more photos and video footage go to their own web page at
BBC NEWS PAGE - VIDEO FOOTAGE OF THE ACTUAL RECORD BREAKING RUN -
CLICK HERE - !!
Daily Updates from the British Steam Car Team during their world recording breaking attempt in America
British Steam Car Team Diary Entry
From: Don Wales – Test Driver
26th August 2009
Yesterday at 8.22am (California time) Don Wales successfully set another land speed record for a steam powered car. The car set the record for a measured kilometre – achieving an average speed of 148.308mph on two runs.
After Charles Burnett III’s heroics on Tuesday in breaking the record for a measured mile, test driver Don Wales piloted the car for the attempt at the kilometre record and reached a peak speed over 155mph. Both new international records are subject to official confirmation by the FIA.
Don Wales said: "What a great feeling, the car felt better than ever today. We peaked over 150mph and the car was handling beautifully. The team has worked so hard over the last 10 years, especially over the last few weeks! Having set two FIA world records is an amazing achievement and no-more than the team deserve after their perseverance”
Project Manager Matt Candy said: "It’s fantastic to set another record for the team and all that hard work has been worth it. After Charles broke the record for the measured mile on Tuesday, we decided to have one more run with the car and attempt the kilometre record. We took some of the inhibitors from the boilers for this run and it helped get a bit more speed out of the car. The weather was perfect today and the air temperature was just 62 degrees Fahrenheit, the team turned around the car in an amazing 30minutes which is their quickest ever! Don has worked so hard with the team, it’s fantastic that he should go home with a record too.”
Notes
The British Steam Car takes 2.5 miles to accelerate and after the measured km, a further 2.5 miles to decelerate – so each run was over 6.5 miles. The FIA requires that the return run takes place within 60 minutes. The times of the two runs are then averaged to obtain the official recorded speed. Compared to the testing we did in Britain, the British Steam Car ran 12 times the distance and twice the maximum speed – all within one hour. It’s been a huge challenge for all.
Weighing three tons, the sleek 25-ft British Steam Car is made from a mixture of lightweight carbon-fibre composite and aluminium wrapped around a steel space frame chassis. It is fitted with 12 boilers containing nearly two miles of tubing. Demineralised water is pumped into the boilers at up to 50 litres a minute and the burners produce three megawatts of heat. Steam is superheated to 400 degrees Celsius which is injected into the turbine at more than twice the speed of sound.
Pending ratification from the FIA, the team hope to secure 5 speed records in all; The International Record for a measured mile, The International Record for a measured kilometre, an American National Record for a measured mile and a measured kilometre and a Guinness World Record for a measured mile.
25th August 2009
Today at 8.19am (California time) Charles Burnett III successfully broke the land speed record for a steam powered car – which has stood for more than 100 years – achieving an average speed of 139.843mph on two runs over a measured mile.
Driver Charles Burnett III piloted the car for both runs reaching a peak speed of 136.103mph on the first run and 151.085 mph on the second. The new international record, which is subject to official confirmation by the FIA, breaks the previous official FIA record of 127mph set in 1906 by American, Fred Marriott, driving a Stanley steamer at Daytona Beach.
As he was congratulated by his jubilant crew, principal driver, Charles Burnett III said: "It was absolutely fantastic I enjoyed every moment of it. We reached nearly 140mph on the first run before I applied the parachute. All systems worked perfectly, it was a really good run. The second run went even better and we clocked a speed in excess of 150 mph. The car really did handle beautifully. The team has worked extremely hard over the last 10 years and overcome numerous problems. It is a privilege to be involved with such a talented crew, what we have achieved today is a true testament to British engineering, good teamwork and perseverance”
Project Manager Matt Candy said: "The first run took place at 7.27am when the air temperature was a cool 63 degrees Fahrenheit, the team turned around the car in 52minutes (with just 8 minutes spare) in preparation for its return run. The British Steam Car takes 2.5 miles to accelerate and after the measured mile, a further 2.5 miles to decelerate – so each run was over 6.5 miles. The FIA requires that the return run takes place within 60 minutes. The times of the two runs are then averaged to obtain the official recorded speed. Compared to the testing we did in Britain, the British Steam Car ran 12 times the distance and twice the maximum speed – all within one hour. It’s been a huge challenge for all.
Pam Swanston wife of the late project manager Frank Swanston was overcome with emotion after seeing Charles power the supercar across the dry lake bed, she said: "If only Frank was here today, it was his vision that made it a reality. He would be incredibly proud of the team's achievements and always believed we would succeed. Today we celebrate this record for Frank"
Weighing three tons, the sleek 25-ft British Steam Car is made from a mixture of lightweight carbon-fibre composite and aluminium wrapped around a steel space frame chassis. It is fitted with 12 boilers containing nearly two miles of tubing. Demineralised water is pumped into the boilers at up to 50 litres a minute and the burners produce three megawatts of heat. Steam is superheated to 400 degrees Celsius which is injected into the turbine at more than twice the speed of sound.
To read the full daily updates from the team leading up to their world record run go to the BSCC Diary Page
The BSCC Team
Several members of the original Thrust SSC team have been brought back together to work on this project. With the previous success of the ThrustSSC team in the desert at Black Rock there is every faith that the project will proceed to set the record at 200 MPH without incident.
There are some additional roles that will have to be cast such as support crew, operations support and general support of the efforts at Thorney Island and Edward’s Air Force Base. These roles will be partly dependant on the number of sponsors that attend the record attempts.
Principal Driver - Charles Burnett
Test Driver - Don Wales
Engineering Logistics Coordinator - Frank Swanston
Team Coordinator and Administrator - Lynne Angel
Team Administrator - Kirsty Redfern
PR Liaison Officer - Pam Swanston
PR Manager - Rebecca Nicholls
Car Build Technician - Peter Prove
Technician - Clive Hawkins
Technician - Stuart Bailey
Engineering Administrator/Strategic Planner - Matt Candy
Wireman - Peter Dickerson
Electrical, Wiring and Computer Technician - Matthew Warr
Electric and Electronic Technician - Nick Bass
Composite Body Work - Mike Horne
Fabricator & Welder - Chris Yates
Fabricator Technician - Wilbur Day
Student Placement - Adam Tye
Design Draughtsman - Chris Lack
Transport - Nigel Leppard
Newtown Park Estates Manager - Richard Channell
Newtown Park Estates Logistics Manager - Rob Gray
Designer - Glynne Bowsher
Consulting Engineer - Peter Candy
Vehicle Details
Length - 7.663 m
Width - 1.700 m
Tall - 1.700 m
Weight - 3 tons
Engine - Two stage turbine - 13,000rpm max turbine revs
Transmission - Rear wheel drive
Horsepower - 268 kw 360 hp
Top speed - 274 kph 170 mph
Fuel - LPG Liquid Petroleum Gas
Burners - 3 Megawatts of heat ~1500 kettles ~23 cups of tea per second
Boilers - 12 - Over 3km of tubing
Superheated
Steam - Flow rate 40 litres per minute
Temperature - 400°C
Pressure - 4000kN/m-2 40 bar
Chassis - Steel space frame
Steering - Rack and pinion to front wheels
Body - Front section carbon composite - Rear section aluminum panels
Front tyres - Goodyear Speed Eagles 23 X 15
Rear tyres - Goodyear Speed Eagles 28 X 15
Water capacity - 140 litres distilled water - 1,000 litres (1ton) of water used every 25 minutes
Gas capacity - 60 litres
Air system - 30,000kN/m-2 300 bar
Batteries - 4 X 90Ah batteries
The Steam World Land Speed Record
As many land speed record enthusiasts will tell you the ultimate land speed record currently stands at 763.035 MPH - Mach 1.0175 or faster than the speed of sound. This record was set across a measured mile by vehicle pilot Andy Green and a team of dedicated engineers and crew led by Richard Noble. This record stands as the ultimate record for any land speed record, but in the interest of fairness to different categories of vehicles the sanctioning body has created several classifications for the land speed record (LSR).
One of the classes of that record is the steam powered LSR (SLSR). It differentiates vehicles powered by internal combustion engines such as petrol or gas turbine types from external combustion engines such as steam reciprocating or steam turbine engines. This distinction has effectively caused the steam LSR to go largely ignored except by a few dedicated individuals.
In 1906, Fred Marriott drove a steam powered vehicle built by the Stanley Brothers to an amazing speed of 127.659 MPH. The sanctioning body for international land speed records at the time was the FIA. Land speed records were measured across a marked mile in a single direction and a single pass. The time was recorded and the record determination was made from the calculations of that time.
Today the FIA is still the sanctioning body and recognizes a land speed record as the average speed of two passes made across a measured distance in opposing directions within 60 minutes of each other. The time of the two runs is then averaged to obtain the official recorded speed. However, this requirement was instituted in 1910 after the record was established and therefore is still recognized as the official land speed record.
While the mile in which the attempt is being made cannot move during the attempt, there is no limit to the runup or braking distance for the vehicle as well or location that the event must take place. By virtue of the nature of a dry lake bed, it is common for attempts to be made on one of the dry lakes prevalent in the Southwest and Western parts of the United States.
The absolute record stood until 1910 when it was beaten by a petrol powered Benz by the narrow margin of 3.5 miles per hour. Ultimately the FIA recognized separate records for steam engine powered vehicles as opposed to internal combustion engines. By 1919 the absolute record had been set by an internal combustion engined car with a recorded speed of 150 MPH but the steam record remained untouched.
The late entrepreneur William Lear ventured into the arena of steam powered vehicles during a 1969 program sponsored by the state of California that intended to bring about ecologically friendly steam powered city busses. For this application Lear turned to Barber-Nichols Engineering to design a steam turbine and although the city bus program ultimately failed, several turbines were built in support of the program.
In 1985 one of the Lear turbines found its way into a car which had been brought to the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, USA for an attempt at the steam powered Land Speed record. Over the course of several years the car progressed from 110 MPH to a measured speed of 145.607 MPH.
The official speed set by Bob Barber stands at 145.607 MPH but is not recognized by the FIA. However, we at the British Steam Car Challenge recognize this speed as the record to exceed.
History of Steam Speed Records
Fred Marriott and the Stanley Steamer of 1906
The only vehicles vying for the Dewar Trophy that year were the Stanley’s steamer and four petrol powered cars, three being Fiats and one Napier. Fred Marriott won cleanly in the Stanley Steamer with a measured mile time of 28 1/5 second which corresponds to a speed of 127.659MPH.
The record set in 1906 is of significance as it is the longest standing FIA recognized LSR. It was set in the days when gasoline powered internal combustion engines were competing neck-and-neck with steam powered external combustion engines for commercial market share.
In the midst of this commercial battle were twin brothers F.E. and F.O. Stanley, known for their Stanley Steamer. Their innovative vehicles were in very high demand early in the 1900s. Their shop constructed several thousand cars in the early part of the nineteenth century but they were overshadowed by the petrol powered internal combustion engines gaining prevalence in the market.
The car was constructed by the Stanley brothers and was a technological marvel for its day. The Stanley brothers created a car that had extremely low drag, incorporating as much inside the cigar shaped body shell as possible including the suspension springs. The engine was a twin piston double acting type with a displacement of 184 cubic inches or 3.1 litres. This corresponds roughly to an internal combustion 4 stroke V8 with a displacement of 735 cubic inches or 12.25 liters. The working pressure claimed to be either 275 or 1000 psi depending on the report with a temperature of 700 degrees F. With the power required to drive the vehicle at the recorded speeds the 1000 psi is most likely the correct figure.
The car was 16 feet long and 3 ft wide at its widest part with a total frontal area of 9 sq. ft including wheels. The total vehicle weight was 1675 lbs.
© Diary entries reproduced with the kind permission of the British Steam Car Challenge
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