The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. The land speed record (LSR) is standardized as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs (commonly called "passes"). Two runs are required in opposite directions within one hour, and a new record mark must exceed the previous one by at least one percent to be validated.
Video Land speed record
History
The first regulators were the Automobile Club de France, who proclaimed themselves arbiters of the record in about 1902.
Different clubs had different standards and did not always recognize the same world records until 1924, when the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) introduced new regulations: two passes in opposite directions (to negate the effects of wind) averaged with a maximum of 30 minutes (later more) between runs, average gradient of the racing surface not more than 1 percent, timing gear accurate within 0.01sec, and cars must be wheel-driven. National or regional auto clubs (such as AAA and SCTA) had to be AIACR members to ensure records would be recognized. The AIACR became the FIA in 1947. Controversy arose in 1963: Spirit of America was not recognized due to its being a three-wheeler (leading the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme to certify it as a three-wheel motorcycle record when the FIA refused) and not wheel-driven so the FIA introduced a special wheel-driven class. No holder of the absolute record since has been wheel-driven
Maps Land speed record
Women's land speed record
In 1906 Dorothy Levitt broke the women's world speed record for the flying kilometer, recording a speed of 91 mph (146.25 km/h) and receiving the sobriquet the "Fastest Girl on Earth". She drove a six-cylinder Napier motorcar, a 100 hp (74.6 kW) development of the K5, in a speed trial in Blackpool. A subsequent record was held by Lee Breedlove, the wife of Craig Breedlove, who piloted her husband's Spirit of America - Sonic 1 to a record of 308.506 mph (496.492 km/h) in 1965, making her the fastest woman alive, as of 1974. According to author Rachel Kushner, Craig Breedlove had talked Lee into taking the car out for a record attempt in order to monopolize the salt flats for the day and block one of his competitors from making a record attempt.
The current women's absolute record is held by Kitty O'Neil, in the jet-powered SMI Motivator, set at the Alvord Desert in 1976. O'Neil reached 512.710 mph (825.127 km/h).
Records
1898-1965 (wheel-driven)
1963-present (jet and rocket propulsion)
Craig Breedlove's mark of 407.447 miles per hour (655.722 km/h), set in Spirit of America in September 1963, was initially considered unofficial. The vehicle breached the FIA regulations on two grounds: it had only three wheels, and it was not wheel-driven, since its jet engine did not supply power to its axles. Some time later, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme created a non-wheel-driven category, and ratified Spirit of America's time for this mark. On July 27, 1964, Donald Campbell's Bluebird CN7 posted a speed of 403.10 miles per hour (648.73 km/h) on Lake Eyre, Australia. This became the official FIA LSR, although Campbell was disappointed not to have beaten Breedlove's time. In October, several four-wheel jet-cars surpassed the 1963 mark, but were eligible for neither FIA nor FIM ratification. The confusion of having three different LSRs lasted until December 11, 1964, when the FIA and FIM met in Paris and agreed to recognize as an absolute LSR the higher speed recorded by either body, by any vehicles running on wheels, whether wheel-driven or not. Thus, Art Arfons' Green Monster was belatedly recognized as the absolute LSR holder, Bluebird the holder of the wheel-driven land speed record, and Spirit of America the tricycle record holder. No wheel-driven car has since held the absolute record.
See also
- List of vehicle speed records
- British land speed record
- Production car speed record
- Land speed record for rail vehicles
- Motorcycle land speed record
- Aero-engined car
- Pioneer 2M - Soviet Union attempt at the land speed record in early 1960s
- Budweiser Rocket - Claimed but not verified to have reached 739.666 miles per hour (1,190.377 km/h) and to have broken the sound barrier in 1979
- North American Eagle Project - Aiming for 808 mph (1,300 km/h) to break current record.
- Bloodhound SSC - Project aiming for 1,050 mph (1,690 km/h).
- Rosco McGlashan - Australia's fastest man on the land. His Aussie Invader team is building a fully rocket-powered LSR car with an attempt at the record currently on hold pending funding.
- The Bullet Project - Australia's land speed record challenger
References
External links
- Autoracing Speed Records at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
- Aussie Invader official website - Australian challengers to the supersonic showdown
- Speed Record Club - The Speed Record Club seeks to promote an informed and educated enthusiast identity, reporting accurately and impartially to the best of its ability on record-breaking engineering, events, attempts and history.
- The Land Speed Record in the Sixties: an on-line collection
Source of article : Wikipedia
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