Search results for ""Author Richard Noble""

This is a very different book from the traditional speed-merchant genre. Richard Noble has had the ambition all his adult life to see Britain excel in engineering on the world stage and throw off the country's dismal culture of safety first and risk aversion. His achievements in the highly insecure world of record-breaking emphatically demonstrate his commitment to his cause: he brought the Land Speed Record back to Britain in 1983 when he drove his Thrust 2 car to 633mph and 14 years later he led the ThrustSSC team to achieve the first supersonic record at 763mph with Andy Green driving. In his book Take Risk! he tells the extraordinary stories of his 11 projects in record-breaking and aviation that all saw people and companies go out of their way to join him in his exciting endeavours - and take risk.

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Inspired by the sight of RAF Lightning fighter interceptors climbing vertically into the sky at 50,000 feet per minute and by other British engineering and design achievements, Richard Noble, determined to put Britain back in the lead during the resurgence of national confidence of the 1980s, wanted Britain to regain the world land speed record. Thrust 2, driven by Richard Noble, broke the world land speed record on 4 October 1983 in the Black Rock desert in Nevada. Powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon turbo-jet engine, it reached a speed of 650.88 mph (1,047,49 km/h}. It would hold the land speed record until 25 September 1987. In this fascinating book, Richard Noble tells the inside story of the development of the car that would beat the world. The story takes the reader from the drawing board, through the considerable technical difficulties, including aerodynamics, mounting an engine designed for jet fighter aircraft, and maintaining stability with suspension and wheels at speeds of over 650 miles per hour. Despite the huge challenges, including recovery from a crash, they were overcome by the confidence and determination of Richard Noble and his team. Including unseen illustrations, this is the true inside story of the world-beating Thrust 2 project.

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