A ‘SUPERSONIC’ EVENING OF ADVENTURE

Published: 31/01/2022

World Land Speed Record breaker Richard Noble OBE will be giving a fund-raising talk at the Beehive Centre in Honiton on the evening of Thursday 24th March 2022 in support of 1064 (Honiton) Squadron Air Training Corps.
Richard Noble has been pushing the boundaries of innovation and engineering for over four decades. Working with aircraft engine manufacturers, he conceived and planned the Thrust 2 programme starting with just £175, raised from the sale of his Thrust 1 car to a scrapyard after a major crash in 1974. After achieving the British Land Speed Record at Greenham Common in 1980 in the 30,000 hp jet powered Thrust 2, three trips were made to the Black Rock Desert of the USA for attempts on the record.

In 1983, behind the wheel of Thrust 2, Richard reached 633mph, so bringing the world land speed record home which had been held by the American’s for over 12 years. On one run, the car reached a peak speed of 650 mph which they later discovered was just 7 mph away from catastrophic take off!

With the threat of a response from his rivals in America and always on the lookout for the next challenge, he went on to direct the Thrust SSC programme, a 100,000 hp twin jet engine car with the aim to break the sound barrier.

Because of the financial difficulties of such a challenge, Richard had to concentrate on funding and give up his driving role, selecting RAF Tornado pilot Wing Commander Andy Green to take his place. Returning to the Black Rock Desert, Nevada in October 1997 and with a budget of just 12% of that of the McLaren Formula 1 race team, Thrust SSC went supersonic for the first time and then made two supersonic passes over the mile within 60 minutes on the 15th October. No other car has run supersonic and the new world record still stands at 763 mph. Under his leadership, Great Britain has retained the world land speed record for a staggering 38 years!

There will be an opportunity for guests to ask Richard questions in a Q&A session after his talk.

The evening, starting at 7:00pm, will be held in the Beehive Centre in Honiton on Thursday 24th March 2022. A licensed bar is available for the purchase of beers, wines, soft drinks and snacks.

Tickets are £11 for adults and £6 for aged 16 and under, which must be pre-booked from the Beehive and can be purchased online at www.beehivehoniton.co.uk