Bloodhound SSC
Tackling challeng
fi nding solutions
The Bloodhound SSC has captured the nation’s imagination but what
is it really like to work on such an iconic project? Clare Swaffer spoke
to Engineering Director John Piper to fi nd out more about the project
and his involvement.
Why did you become an How is the project progressing? on the design team to deliver
engineer? We’re going forwards and are defi nitely results quickly?
It seemed like a good idea at the time. making progress. We’d like to be going a bit No. I think we don’t realise that pressure.
I guess if you go back into when I was faster than we are, but when we started Our primary objective is to get kids,
a child, I was interested in balsa wood the project, we obviously couldn’t have universities and students interested in
aeroplanes and gliders, Airfi x kits and predicted the current economic climate. engineering and I think we’re being very
Meccano. I was always interested in how So it’s tough – it’s tough going and it’s successful at that.
and why things work. tough to raise funds. What’s easy to raise, Designing and building the car has got
I got channelled into going to a technical which is very pleasing, is the interest and to be done so that it’s as safe as we can
school and the dye was cast then. I enthusiasm from the general public and possibly make it. We’re quite cautious in
absolutely loved being at technical school from companies. It’s just a bit harder to get how we proceed and we have targets,
because we had lathes and mills and a cash out of people. performance targets, not just in terms of
forge and a foundry. Obviously that was in We are making fantastic progress with speed, but in terms of the structure of the
the days before health and safety was used the engineering of the car but I’d like to vehicle and its stability. We have to meet
to inhibit kids’ development, rather than be going a bit faster than we are, but then those, so we have to keep going round the
encourage it. I suppose that’s inherent in our psyche, design loop until we’re satisfi ed ourselves
I liked technical drawing and physics always wanting to go faster. We’ve got some that it’s correct, so the amount of pressure
– but not maths so much. I wasn’t brilliant very big engineering challenges ahead but you’re under is pretty irrelevant. If you’ve
at maths, which I was told was what you we’ve got ways of tackling those and we got a target to meet, you can’t go on to the
need to be a good engineer. However, you think we can fi nd solutions. next thing until you’ve met that target.
don’t need to be too good at maths, just
good enough. If you’re too good at maths, As the project is not fully funded What has been the biggest
you become an academic, rather than a does this put any constraints on challenge on the Bloodhound
nice practical engineer. the engineering design? SSC project?
No. We don’t stop. That’s the one thing we It’s very diffi cult to single one out because
How did you get involved with don’t do. What we’re doing is tailoring the the next problem is the biggest challenge
the Bloodhound SSC project? size of the engineering team to the budget and the last one is not a challenge any more.
I was Chief Designer on the JCB that we have, so that we can maintain that At the moment we’re trying to fi nd the
Dieselmax Landspeed Car. We set the momentum. It’s very important that we best and smallest range of aerodynamic
world’s fastest diesel record in 2006 at just keep going. If we stop, then the inertia lift/downforce change and that’s the biggest
350mph and Andy Green (the driver for to restart would be diffi cult. I’ve got a few challenge at the moment.
the Bloodhound SSC project) was the less engineers than I would like to have, but We’ve got other challenges – the wheel
driver, so it was through him really. I also that’s what it means. design, the hydrogen peroxide tank, the
knew Richard Noble (the Project Director) suspension, performance and the stability
because he was a consultant to JCB on the As the project has so many of the car. They are all big challenges and it’s
Dieselmax car. sponsors, is there pressure diffi cult to single one out.
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