Mar 31, 2008

Fossett's Record Attempt Continues

Wealthy adventurer Steve Fossett disappeared last September and was recently declared legally dead. But that hasn’t deterred his land-speed record team from pursuing a new mark, despite the loss of the leader that gave the group its name…and its funding. Interestingly, the team is trying to establish the new record with a used car. At a recent test run in El Mirage dry lake in Southern California, the team showed up with a jet-powered vehicle that had previously been owned by land-speed record veteran Craig Breedlove, who piloted a car made famous by the Beach Boys’ song “Spirit of America” way back in the ‘60s.

Seeking to top 800 miles per hour -- faster than the speed of sound -- the crew has equipped the gigantic 48-foot-long car with a 40,000-horsepower S&S Turbine LM-1500 jet engine. The car-engine combination has already undergone static tests, but the El Mirage test run was aborted when the vehicle failed to start. The crew blamed faulty fuel for the problem. A major question mark is who will drive the car in its land-speed record attempt at the Bonneville Salt Flats?  Fossett was preparing to drive the car himself after record-breaking stints as a long-distance airplane and balloon pilot, but now, with him out of the picture, the driver’s seat is up for grabs.