Richard James Anthony Noble | |
|---|---|
 Richard Noble (left) | |
| Born | 6 March 1946 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Education | Winchester College |
| Occupation | Speed record holder |
Richard James Anthony Noble, OBE (born 6 March 1946) 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.
Noble was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and educated at Winchester College. [1] He became a qualified pilot.
In 1984 he exploited a production hiatus at Cessna aircraft to create the ARV Super2, a new all-British light aircraft. [2] The Super2 was fitted with a new British engine, the Hewland AE75. Only around 40 ARVs were made before the Isle of Wight factory closed. [3] [4]
Thrust2, the record-breaking car driven by Noble, travelled at 633.468 mph (1019 km/h) in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, US. The accomplishment won Noble the 1983 Segrave Trophy. ThrustSSC, the supersonic car driven by Andy Green, broke the record at 763.035 mph (1221 km/h) or Mach 1.02. Noble was planning another land speed record attempt to take place in 2019: Bloodhound SSC which aimed to surpass 1,000 mph but the project went into bankruptcy and was sold to Ian Warhurst. Noble remained a Director on both Bloodhound Project and Bloodhound Education Ltd. Bloodhound Education is a stand-alone charity which is funded by grants from corporate sponsors such as Saudi Aramco and others. [5]
Noble's next project was to develop the "Farnborough F1", a six-passenger single-engined turboprop low-wing aircraft designed as an "Air Taxi" that could operate out of small airstrips. [6] The intended market was to provide transport for businessmen who found the existing air, rail and road networks too inflexible and expensive. Noble started Farnborough Aircraft in 1998, but after failing to find backing from any major financial institution, sold shares to small investors. A bitter dispute followed, and development stopped while new investment was found. The rights to the design were transferred and the aircraft renamed Kestrel K-350. A prototype aircraft first flew in 2006 [7] but certification and production remain uncertain. [8] [9]
In 2010 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Technology by the University of the West of England. [10]
Noble's autobiography is titled Thrust: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Quest for Speed. [11]
A ramjet, or athodyd, is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to take in air for combustion that produces jet thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary ramjet-powered vehicles require an assisted take-off like a rocket assist to accelerate it to a speed where it begins to produce thrust. Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around Mach 3 and can operate up to speeds of Mach 6.
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
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An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are reffered as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many small UAVs have used electric motors.
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 approached the speed of sound, these effects were 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.
Craig Breedlove was 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. Thrust SSC holds the world land speed record, set on 15 October 1997, and driven by Andy Green, when it achieved a speed of 1,228 km/h (763 mph) and became the first land vehicle to officially break the sound barrier.
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.
A vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft is an airplane able to take-off or land vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft are a subset of V/STOL craft that do not require runways at all. Generally, a V/STOL aircraft needs to be able to hover. Helicopters are not considered under the V/STOL classification as the classification is only used for aeroplanes, aircraft that achieve lift (force) in forward flight by planing the air, thereby achieving speed and fuel efficiency that is typically greater than the capability of helicopters.
Gary Gabelich was an American motorsport driver who set the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Land Speed Record (LSR) with the rocket car Blue Flame on October 23, 1970, on a dry lake bed at Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah.
The Eurojet EJ200 is a military low-bypass turbofan used as the powerplant of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The engine is largely based on the Rolls-Royce XG-40 technology demonstrator, which was developed in the 1980s. The EJ200 is built by the EuroJet Turbo GmbH consortium. The EJ200 is also used in the Bloodhound LSR supersonic land speed record attempting car.
Wing Commander Andrew Duncan Green 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.
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Ronald Ayers is an English engineer who was responsible for the aerodynamics of the land speed record-holding vehicles, ThrustSSC and JCB Dieselmax, and is chief Aerodynamicist for the Bloodhound SSC.
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.
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A number of aircraft have been claimed to be the fastest propeller-driven aircraft. This article presents the current record holders for several sub-classes of propeller-driven aircraft that hold recognized, documented speed records in level flight. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) records are the basis for this article. Other contenders and their claims are discussed, but only those made under controlled conditions and measured by outside observers.
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).
Daniel Jubb is a British rocket scientist. In a 17 November 2008 article from the British newspaper The Times, he was named "one of the world's leading rocket scientists", by the Royal Air Force Wing Commander Andy Green.
The Kestrel K-350 or Kestrel is a high-performance, single engine turboprop, all-composite, six-seat aircraft.
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