Andy Green | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Andrew Duncan Green |
| Born | 30 July 1962 Atherstone, Warwickshire, England |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1980 – 2019 |
| Rank | Wing Commander |
| Service number | 5203707F |
| Awards | Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Wing Commander Andrew Duncan Green OBE (born 30 July 1962) [1] is a retired British Royal Air Force fighter pilot and World Land Speed Record holder since 1997, the first land speed record to break the sound barrier.
Born in Atherstone, Warwickshire, Green's family moved to Hartlepool in the 1970s when his father was appointed station manager for the local fire brigade. [2] Green originally attended High Tunstall School before moving to Marske-by-the-Sea and beginning study at Bydales Comprehensive School. Green later moved to Kent with his family, where he studied at St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington. While at a car show in Hartlepool at a young age, Green decided that he would be interested in a career within the military. [2]
Green gained an RAF scholarship to Worcester College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1983 with first class honours in mathematics. [3] Later that year Green was promoted from acting Pilot Officer to substantive Pilot Officer in the RAF. [4] He qualified as a fighter pilot on F-4 Phantom and Tornado F3 aircraft. In 2003 Green was promoted to Wing Commander. [5] He later became Officer Commanding Operations Wing at RAF Wittering near Peterborough. Green is also the captain of the RAF team at the Cresta Run, [6] where he uses an experimental French toboggan.
In his capacity as an RAF officer, he has served in East Germany, Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan. [7]
Green is the current holder of the World Land speed record, and the first person to break the sound barrier on land. On 25 September 1997 in ThrustSSC he beat the previous record in Black Rock Desert, US, reaching a speed of 714.144 miles per hour (1,149.303 km/h). On 15 October 1997, 50 years and 1 day after the sound barrier was broken in aerial flight by Chuck Yeager, Green reached 763.035 miles per hour (1,227.986 km/h), the first supersonic record (Mach 1.016). His call sign was "Dead Dog". As the vehicle crossed the speed of sound it created a sonic boom.
Green is now working on a new record attempt to break the 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 km/h) mark with Bloodhound LSR. [8]
His next land speed attempt was intended to be for MG in a specially modified MG F called the MG EX255; [9] [10] however, due to the time required for modifications, the project did not finish on time and that attempt never happened.
Since then, Green's most recent challenge was the driving of the JCB Dieselmax car, attempting to take the Diesel Land Speed Record over 300 mph (480 km/h). Having tested the vehicle on his own RAF base, Wittering, on 22 August 2006, he broke the previous record of 236 miles per hour (380 km/h) (set in August 1973), after attaining an average speed of 328.767 miles per hour (529.099 km/h) during two runs on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. Twenty four hours later, Green broke his own record, achieving a speed of 350.092 miles per hour (563.418 km/h) on 23 August 2006.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1998 New Year Honours. [11] He was awarded the Segrave Trophy by the Royal Automobile Club in 1997. In 2006 he was awarded the John Cobb Trophy by the British Racing Drivers' Club for "a success of outstanding character" [12] and an Honorary degree from Staffordshire University in July 2008.
On 14 June 2009 Green gained his first circuit racing experience, whilst raising money for the Bloodhound SSC project, by participating in Round 4 of the Elise Trophy at Snetterton. [13]
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately 343.2 m/s. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) are often referred to as hypersonic. Flights during which only some parts of the air surrounding an object, such as the ends of rotor blades, reach supersonic speeds are called transonic. This occurs typically somewhere between Mach 0.8 and Mach 1.2.
The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approaches the speed of sound, these effects are seen as constituting a barrier, making faster speeds very difficult or impossible. The term sound barrier is still sometimes used today to refer to aircraft approaching supersonic flight in this high drag regime. Flying faster than sound produces a sonic boom.
The 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 flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The land speed record (LSR) is standardized as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs. 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.
Craig Breedlove is an American professional race car driver and a five-time world land speed record holder. He was the first person in history to reach 500 mph (800 km/h), and 600 mph (970 km/h), using several turbojet-powered vehicles, all named Spirit of America.
ThrustSSC, Thrust SSC or Thrust SuperSonic Car is a British jet car developed by Richard Noble, Glynne Bowsher, Ron Ayers, and Jeremy Bliss.
Thrust2 is a British designed and built jet propelled car, which held the world land speed record from 4 October 1983 to 25 September 1997.
Richard James Anthony Noble, OBE is a Scottish entrepreneur who was holder of the land speed record between 1983 and 1997. He was also the project director of ThrustSSC, the vehicle which holds the current land speed record, set at Black Rock Desert, Nevada in 1997.
John Rhodes Cobb was an early to mid 20th century English racing motorist. He was three times holder of the World Land Speed Record, in 1938, 1939 and 1947, set at Bonneville Speedway in Utah, US. He was awarded the Segrave Trophy in 1947. He was killed in 1952 whilst piloting a jet powered speedboat attempting to break the World Water Speed Record on Loch Ness water in Scotland.
Royal Air Force Elvington or more simply RAF Elvington is a former Royal Air Force station which operated from the beginning of the Second World War until 1992 located at Elvington, Yorkshire, England.
Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire is the nearest town, the runways of RAF Wittering cross the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
The Green Monster was the name of several vehicles built by Art Arfons and his half brother Walt Arfons. These ranged from dragsters to a turbojet-powered car which briefly held the land speed record three times during 1964 and 1965.
The JCB Dieselmax is a diesel-engined 'streamliner' car designed for the purpose of breaking the land speed record for a diesel-engined vehicle.
Rosco McGlashan OAM is an Australian drag racing record-holder, who currently holds the Australian land speed record at 500 mph (802.6 km/h). This record was set on the 27 March 1994 on the dry salt flats of Lake Gairdner, South Australia 440 km (270 mi) northwest of Adelaide.
The British land speed record is the fastest land speed achieved by a vehicle in the United Kingdom, as opposed to one on water or in the air. It is standardised as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs in opposite directions.
Neville Frederick Duke, was a British test pilot and fighter ace of the Second World War. He was credited with the destruction of 27 enemy aircraft. After the war, Duke was acknowledged as one of the world's foremost test pilots. In 1953, he became holder of the world air speed record when he flew a Hawker Hunter at 727.63 mph (1,171.01 km/h) over Littlehampton.
A rocket car is a land vehicle propelled by a rocket engine. A rocket dragster is a rocket car used for competing in drag racing, and this type holds the unofficial world record for the 1/4 mile.
Wing Commander George Hedley Stainforth, was a Royal Air Force pilot and the first man to exceed 400 miles per hour.
Bloodhound LSR, formerly Bloodhound SSC, is a British land vehicle designed to travel at supersonic speeds with the intention of setting a new world land speed record. The arrow-shaped car, under development since 2008, is powered by a jet engine and will be fitted with an additional rocket engine. The initial goal is to exceed the current speed record of 763 mph (1,228 km/h), with the vehicle believed to be able to achieve up to 1,000 miles per hour (1,609 km/h).
Verneukpan is a widespread dry salt pan south of Kenhardt, between Swartkop and Diemansput in the Northern Cape, South Africa. Verneuk is Afrikaans for to trick, mislead, screw or swindle. The pan is used for aerotowing operations. During the rainy seasons many birds flock to the pans, when they contain water. The surface is completely flat, and is approximately 57 kilometres (35 mi) long and 11 kilometres (7 mi) wide.
Hugh Joseph Wilson known as, nicknamed "Willie", was a senior Royal Air Force officer. He served as the RAF's main chief test pilot for captured enemy aircraft in World War II and in November 1945 was the first man to exceed 600 miles per hour (970 km/h), flying a Gloster Meteor jet fighter.