Jet engine on two wheels set to crack the motorbike land speed record

The attempts to beat the world land speed records are very common for car- and bike-enthusiasts. Normally, they use conventional engines for realizing it and so, the advanced versions, like jet engines, have never been that common a scenario thus far. Richard Brown, however, is the person to make all that possible. He aims to be the first in the world to cross a speed of 720 km/hr in a motorbike, with a two way speed of 640 km/hr on an average. To achieve this, he doesn’t need an old and wearied bike but indeed a jet engine.

Motorbike or Jet?

He is the same person who earlier set such a record by speeding his motorbike at 584 km/hr at Bonneville in northern Utah in the year 1999. In 1999, he used his bike named Gillette Mach 3 Challenger to set the record of 584 km/hr on roads. It had a customized hybrid rocket engine. But he failed in his attempts. Attributable to soft ground, he had to use tires instead of aluminum wheels. These tires could only sustain up to a speed of 380 km/hr or above. The large centrifugal force caused the deflation of tires.

But these failures would mean nothing to Richard. It encouraged him to try and develop an even better thing. Richard named his new bike as Jet Reaction. He used a helicopter engine with a power of 930 kW. But he redesigned it in such a way that it produced thrust instead of turning a rotor. He installed a reheat unit made on his own. The unit sprays the fuel on the hot exhaust gases to produce thrust as a result of ignition. This unit is set up on top of two canisters that consist of braking parachutes, for emergency. The team expects a speed of 450 mph from it. He even says “these ideas may seem simple enough but a lot more of development is required”.

After the 1999 attempt, he tried making a sub orbital rocket. But it could never get launched. His other works include a gas turbine powered jet pack. It will allow the wearer to remain air borne for a period of 10 minutes.

At present, the world land speed record is 606 km/hr, set by Rocky Robinson in the year 2010. He used a bike named Ack Attack Streamliner. This bike has enlarged metal bodies. It looks like a giant bullet. For balancing the bike when it is either stationary or moving slowly, retractable stabilizers are provided.

Richard hopes to break the record that was set in Bonneville. He will attempt it in UK airfield with his Jet Reaction in the year 2013. Bloodhound chief engineer, Mark Chapman says

The biggest concern is the air intake. It should be made sure that the air flow in the jet is stable, otherwise engine can surge leading to dangerous consequences.