by Chris Jefferies
Of all the celebrities at this year’s Caravan and Camping Show (18-23 February), Andy Green may just be the most inspiring.
The RAF fighter pilot made history in 1997. That year he became the first man to break the sound barrier in a land vehicle, called Thrust SSC, and now he has his sights set on another record.
Speaking on the Caravan Club stand at the Birmingham NEC on Tuesday, Wing Commander Green spoke of his plans for 2015. Next year he will attempt to become the first man to drive at 1,000mph in the South African desert next year.
The jet-powered vehicle he will be piloting for the occasion, called Bloodhound SSC, is a mind-boggling machine.
Generating a staggering 133,000bhp and 12 tonnes of thrust, which is the equal to the power of 180 Formula 1 cars, it can cover 12 miles from a standing start in two minutes.
A scale model of the vehicle was on the Caravan Club stand and it certainly attracted a lot of attention from the passing visitors.
Andy came along to the show as the Caravan’s Club special guest. He has a long history of staying in caravans and motorhomes in some of the world’s most inhospitable places while preparing for these world record attempts.
These include the Black Rock Desert in Nevada and the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
And now he wants Caravan Club members to join him and support him in South Africa next year, as he told CaravanTimes:
“We are going to have thousands of visitors come to see us, a combination of living off the land in caravans and motorhomes.
“I suspect, and it would be interesting to measure it, we are going to finish up with the world’s largest caravan park.”
Most people would be content with breaking one world record at a time. But then again, most people aren’t Andy Green.
For more information on his land speed record attempt, visit: www.bloodhoundssc.com
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