The developers of the Bloodhound supersonic car (SSC), which will be used in a land-speed record attempt in the remote Hakskeenpan, in South Africa’s Kalahari Desert, in 2015 and 2016, unveiled details of the vehicle’s cockpit this month, noting that driver safety has been a prime design objective throughout the car’s development.

The Bloodhound team presented visuals of the cockpit to members of the media in Bristol, UK, as well as to journalists in South Africa through a video link-up.

The monocoque was hand-crafted by com-posite components manufacturer URT Group using five different types of carbon fibre weave and two different resins. Between the layers of carbon fibre, there are three different thicknesses of aluminium honeycomb core to provide additional strength.

At its thickest point, the monocoque, which took more than 10 000 hours to design and manufacture, comprises 13 individual layers just 25 mm in cross section.

The structure weighs 200 kg and is bolted directly to the Bloodhound SSC’s metallic rear chassis carrying the jet, rocket and engine.

“The carbon front section will have to endure peak aerodynamic loads of up to 3 t/m2 at 1 609 km/h, as well the considerable forces gener-ated by the front wheels and suspension. It will also carry ballistic armour to protect the driver should a stone be thrown up by the front wheels at very high speeds,” the Bloodhound team said in a media release.

Meanwhile, the roof of the cockpit had been designed to create a series of shockwaves that would channel the air into the Eurojet EJ200 jet engine.

The Bloodhound team explained that, should supersonic air reach the jet engine fan blades, the airflow would break down, causing the engine to choke, generating huge changes in pressure that could damage the jet engine and the car. Therefore, the SSC will use the shockwaves over the canopy to slow the airflow down from more than 1 600 km/h to only 643 km/h over a distance of around 1 m.

Deflecting these winds – travelling five times faster than a hurricane – will, however, result in additional noise and vibration being transmitted into the cockpit.

“The sound levels expected in and around the Bloodhound SSC are being carefully evaluated,” Bloodhound said, pointing out that driver Andy Green would wear an in-ear communications sys-tem, specially designed by Ultimate Ear, to protect his hearing and ensure he can communicate with mission control.

Meanwhile, the Bloodhound SSC also has a highly specialised windscreen custom-made from acrylic by British company PPA Group.

The plastic was heated and stretched, following which two layers were bonded together to create a 25 mm section – thicker than a fighter jet’s windscreen and sufficient to withstand an impact with a 1 kg bird at 1 448 km/h.

Owing to the oblique angle the windscreen is set at, the driver will, in fact, be looking through 50 mm of curved plastic. The key challenge has therefore been to make the screen robust, while maintaining absolute visual clarity, the team explained.

Green had drawn on his experience of flying jets and driving world land-speed record winners Thrust SSC and JCB Dieselmax to design the dashboard and cockpit layout.

One screen, located in the centre of the cockpit, indicates the speed in miles per hour and Mach number, along with jet engine and rocket outputs. Dynamic speed indicators will also help Green judge when to fire the rocket and deploy the braking systems. Wheel loads are also given prominence.

Another screen shows hydraulic pressures and temperatures in the braking and airbrake systems, while a third provides information about the three engines, including temperatures, pressures and fuel levels.

The Bloodhound SSC’s dash also features two precision-engineered analogue Rolex instruments – a chronograph with built-in stopwatch, and a speedometer graduated up
to 1 770 km/h.

The instrument panels have been coated with a special nonreflective grey paint to provide the best background colour against which to see the gauges and controls, while the cockpit walls are white to ensure the maximum available light in the cockpit.

The car also has interior lights, as it will often be prepared for use before dawn.

Green is expected to keep the Bloodhound SSC on course using a bespoke three-dimensional printed titanium steering wheel, shaped to his hands and finger reach.

The cockpit also features a carbon fibre seat, moulded to Green’s shape to provide unparalleled levels of support and safety. He will also be strapped in using a Willans five-point harness and will wear a Pro Ultra Hans device to protect his neck from sudden, violent movements or decelerations, as well as an Arai helmet.

“Driver safety has been the prime design and engineering objective throughout Bloodhound’s gestation and the team has worked closely with motor racing’s governing world body, the Fédération Internationale de L’Auto- mobile, to create the best safety cell in the history of motorsport,” the Bloodhound team said.