BLOODHOUND
How to Drive at 1,000 mph Nov 10th 2010, 15:05 by P.M. GOOD news that Cosworth , a British engineering company best known as the maker of high-performance motors, is supplying one of its Formula 1 engines to a team hoping to set a 1,000mph (1,609kph) land-speed record in Bloodhound SSC (for super-sonic car). It is heartening that even in these straitened times companies are prepared to support bold attempts to push human and technical abilities to new limits. More than 200 other firms will also be helping out. The Cosworth CA2010 engine would give any car a bit of poke. But alone it is not enough to get the Bloodhound SSC into the record books. Sitting in the centre of the vehicle, the Cosworth engine will run as an auxiliary power unit to operate various systems. This includes delivering hydraulic power to start an EJ200 jet engine from a Typhoon Eurofighter. This will quickly propel the car to more than 200mph, at which point the third engine will be ignited: a novel hybrid roc...