V&A Waterfront goes supersonic this weekend

(Image: Flock, London)

The Bloodhound SSC is a jet and rocket powered car designed to reach speeds of 1,000mph (just over 1,600km/h). Weighing in at just over seven tons and 13,4m in length, the engines produce more than 135,000 horsepower.

"Participants will receive a Bloodhound SSC certificate with their name and the speed they were able to reach," explains Dave Rowley, education director for the project. "I'm really looking forward to sharing the excitement of vehicle with the public of Cape Town." Dave will be on site both days, along with several young Bloodhound ambassadors who work for the project as education volunteers.

Bloodhound bound for SA

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UK engineers are still hard at work building the car. It will arrive in South Africa towards the end of the year for a series of test runs before it attempts to break the world land speed record in 2014. The tests (which will in themselves break the sound barrier) and the record attempt itself, will take place on Hakskeenpan in the Northern Cape where a vast area of desert is currently being cleared of 6,000 tons of stones to prepare the desert track.

"We are pushing the limits of engineering and technology with the car, but it is the kind of project that will inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers - and that is one of the main reasons why we're doing it," explains project director Richard Noble, OBE, holder of the land speed record between 1983 and 1997.

The event in the V&A Waterfront forms part of a week-long celebration of "Great British" events organised by the British High Commission in South Africa to showcase Great Britain and extend the partnership between the two countries.

Find out more about Bloodhound at www.bloodhoundssc.com

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