The Budweiser Rocket - Controversial Rocket Car
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- čas přidán 8. 03. 2019
- A brief history of the Budweiser Rocket car and the continuing controversy surrounding its claim to have gone supersonic in 1979.
FURTHER READING
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Thrust: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Quest for Speed by Richard Noble
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Railton: Man Of Speed by Karl Ludvigsen
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Goldenrod: The Resurrection of America's Speed King by John Baechtel
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Speed Duel by Samuel Hawley
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The History Of Speed by Martin Roach
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Donald Campbell: The Man Behind The Mask by David Tremayne
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Bluebird and the Dead Lake: The Classic Account of how Donald Campbell broke the World Land Speed Record by John Pearson
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Leap into Legend: Donald Campbell and the Complete Story of the World Speed Records by Steve Holter
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Bluebird CN7: The Inside Story of Donald Campbell's Last Land Speed Record Car by Donald Stevens
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Parry Thomas: The First Driver to be Killed in Pursuit of the Land Speed Record by Hugh Tours
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Quest For Speed: The Epic Saga of Record-Breaking On Land by Barry John
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The Fast Set: Three Extraordinary Men and Their Race for the Land Speed Record by Charles Jennings
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Man Against the Salt by Harvey Shapiro
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Ultimate Speed: The Fast Life and Extreme Cars of Racing Legend Craig Breedlove by Samuel Hawley
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Infinity Over Zero: Meditations on Maximum Velocity by Cole Coonce
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Speedquest: Inside the Blue Flame by Richard Keller
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Crusader: John Cobb's ill-fated quest for speed on water by Steve Holter
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Stills and footage from unknown / uncredited sources used under Fair Use / Fair Deal.
Oxygen Garden by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: chriszabriskie.com/divider/
Artist: chriszabriskie.com/ - Auta a dopravní prostředky
They built the car, made many innovations, ran it 19 times building up to speed, went really fast, and didn't kill the driver.
Complete success.
i am not losing any sleep over whether he did or did not. not relevant really and nobody really cares now. however he got in a rocket car with a sidewinder missile attached and fired it.. legend..
Ya I always wonder how some of these guys and women are able to fit in these small chassis cars with such giant balls.
Go to all the effort of building a incredible car, but cant be bothered recording anything properly. What a screw up.
Ever seen a Hal Needham movie?
The data they never released would have proven they never went supersonic. It's as easy as that.
It seems to me that the FIA rules were designed to prevent exactly this sort of controversy. Weren’t the Budweiser team just setting themselves up for questions and uncertainty?
At the time the distinction between
FIA record and "first car to go supersonic" was lost in the mix. Joe Public wasn't interested in the detail of land speed record methodology. Budwizer got all the positive PR they needed. None of that negates the extreme bravery of Stan Barrett, Rocket car= bomb on wheels. Thank you for posting this sir. Very well researched and narated.
If we didn't have Thrust SSC run to compare with this run it could be argued but the clearly heard sonic boom of SSC and you could see the pressure wave build up. The Rocket car probably did reach somewhere near the speed of sound but the SSC run I think proves it didn't exceed it
Agreed 100% This was a brave and gutsy attempt but not a supersonic one.
1979, very cool, very ballsy, that being said...agreed, it didn't get to the speed of sound.
The most mind boggling part of this amazing story is the sheer amount of MORONS involved in attempting to measure his speed which was the WHOLE POINT of the entire endeavor. 😳
Publicity stunt or not. Real Land speed record or not. Breaking the sound barrier or not.
One thing, it takes balls of steel to get strapped into such a contraption and go full bore, so I take my hat off for that.
And for that reason I think most of us, whether we believe it or not, would be happy if Stan Barrett could actually say he did go supersonic. Unfortunately despite the efforts of this brave man, it didn't happen.
It's all about gonads and bottoms with you people, isn't it?
@@dunruden9720 maybe 😀
While there is no actual proof this car broke the speed of sound, it did have 1/100 of a mile timing traps and they appear to have indicated it exceeded 660 MPH.
That WAS faster than the existing Blue Flame speed record, but would not have been official in any event, as this car is often reported to not have had enough fuel to hold that speed for an entire kilometer or mile (the official lengths used in legitimate Land Speed Records depending on the sanctioning body), and no "second run the other direction" ever happened as required by all Land Speed Record sanctioning bodies.
It would appear that this car MIGHT have been the fastest car ever (prior to Thrust SSC) but had no chance at any official record and did NOT in fact exceed the speed of sound.
Did anyone hear a sonic boom?
@@nissimlevy3762 The claims about that are conflicting.
No sonic boom - that's pretty conclusive isn't it?
Why did Chuck Yeager not address that point, instead of coming up with his fact-free, no-data speculation.
Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin had a sonic 'boom' on his last flight in the X-1. Are you saying that made him the first man faster than sound and not Yeager? At the time it was written off as some limited supersonic airflow over the top of the wings while the plane was on the verge of supersonic. Me? I've always be a bit skeptical of the 'breaking the sound barrier story' as normally told.
A lot of maybes.
When the Thrust SSC broke the sound barrier, you could clearly see it had, without waiting for the data - the shockwave was visible on the surface of the lake bed.
That car AVERAGED 763 mph over 2 measured miles.
Matthias(Hi-5/Dope or Nope)'s grandfather made that rocket car.
yep
To summarise then; Not enough evidence provided to back up the claim. Thank you for playing, it's been great having you here. Moving on to the next contestant........
When SSC broke the sound barrier it was interesting to see the pressure wave travel across the surface.
Who hasn't wanted to strap a Sidewinder to there car.
Me.
Lmao
Why didn’t they just do it again? They ran it 18 times before this, why not run it a 20th time?
Because it was Budweiser time obviously lol
Because they knew they hadn't achieved it... had they tried again, the stupid Air Force radar would have been used properly and they would have gotten egg in their faces.
@@ernestogasulla7763 Whatever Ernesto
They only had one sidewinder missile engine
@@JG-dx5wi The Sidewinder missile would have made little difference. Thrust increase was only of the order of 25% and they needed more than that.
No boom? No zoom!
He did not break the sound barrier, right no pressure wave no sound boom, BUT he went 735 mph. An incredible achievement! Bouncing down the flats. With a side winder, its a beautiful sight seeing the side winded light and lift the vehicle of the ground. An incredible feet. He was 35 mph short.
As ever the rocket is controversial. One thing to bear in mind here. Needham was a PR man, he was also contracted to receive a bunch of bonus money if the car went supersonic, factor that into all the guff here and you can see why there is severe scepticism. The timing, the lack of any data at all, the rather odd way of timing, the way the Air Force crafted their letter to not involve them in the result, especially without evidence. No doubt Barrett is perhaps the bravest LSR pilot of them all, and the car is beautifully made and did its job well.
But it never broke the barrier, there is no evidence that it did, and never will be unless someone comes out and says so. And they will not or Budweiser lose face as do the people who did all of this. If they are still alive!
Sadly all you will get on here is the usual suspects stating fact without data, and people like us Brits, saying we did it legally and that is all that matters lol!
And the total lack of a sonic boom and the clearly visible shock-wave across the lake bed, as with the SSC!
When you take everything into consideration, from the professionalism of the engineers, the skill and bravery of the pilot, the planning, the manufacturing, even the size of the sponsors, it's a real pity that the recording methods were so amateurish.
If you're attempting to attain a certain speed it's imperative that the recording methods are carried out with utmost professionalism, rather than the half arsed mess on show here.
They didn't need recording methods or 2 way runs as they wanted the the publicity of the sound barrier. The proof was supposed to be the sonic boom.
This channel's presentation is superb.
the first time I heard about this car, I thought that their record was not registered officially because of now meeting the requirements for land vehicle. now I know that they failed completely at measuring the speed and their claim is purely based on what they want to say. brave pilot, it's a shame he did not get to break the sound barrier.
Is anyone here from Matthias' newest video? His grandfather was a smart man ❤
I came here just for that
Me 😢😢
He accomplished many now may he rest in peace 😔
@@jasmine6222 True
Ya I’m here but It’s still super sad that he passed we might not have known him but we still know a lot about him.
38 miles per hour.......
'Wheels of solid aluminium'... AND balls of solid aluminium to hit the sidewinder ignite button at 600mph!!! Incredible... What a machine, and what a driver. Thank you recommended.. Subscribed.
To be fair even if it did go mach, its shocking they are unable to reliably prove it. You get this type of argument with theologians, just because they say something happened (or exists) and then say its up to you to disprove it is a really poor way to argue particularly if you are going for a record. If it can not be independently proven to a reasonable degree it does not count. More so as Budweiser wanted it to go super sonic (for the publicity) you can argue the poor measuring/lack of independent measurement was deliberate.
I'm more impressed by the fact that he fit in the car, with as big of balls he has.
Not going to be popular but the lack of sonic boom doesnt absolutely dismiss him going supersonic. If you look at car shape and “quiet spike” technology NASA is playing with for sonic boom-less commercial flight, they’re very similar. SSC had a huge cross section to create the boom, the way the Space Shuttle was so big it created a double boom as it reinterred...
It's a shame that the work and the ambition of the car, not to mention the huge cojones of Stan Barrett, is always overshadowed by the sound barrier debate. I don't care if it went supersonic, as I'm just amazed that the project was seen through to completion and run. I hope Bloodhound gets its chance.
I agree but if it was so good why did he keep trying to be Undisputed the was a one shot attempt I'd say publicity for Budweiser beer.
Maybe he broke the sound barrier, and maybe he didn't. One thing's for certain though, he went a hell of a lot faster in that contraption than I would have!
If he had there would be no reason to refuse access to the data. No other reasonable conclusion can be made. Also the lack of sonic boom is pretty damning. Trans sonic I'd believe
whatever the controversy, on that day, that car was the fastest thing on land in human history
I don't think that's debatable
Sorry, can't be without evidence to back it up.
@@poruatokin You need a paper document to think for you? Use your head. The car had run nearly 700 without the sidewinder. I believe it most probably did at least 700.
@@digitalblasphemy1100 Believe what you like, without official ratification you are talking bollocks
@@poruatokin I'm not talking anything other than what it probably did. I have eyes and I know what it was capable of without the solid rocket. I think it probably did about 700. Want to fight about it?
@@digitalblasphemy1100 What is there to fight about? Without ratification by calibrated measurements and with two runs in opposing directions in accordance with the Land Speed Record as set by the international governing body, the FIA, you are STILL talking bollocks.
The Budweiser ripoff published speed was not officially sanctioned by the USAF, as the Digital Instrument Radar was not calibrated or certified. The radar information was not generated using the vehicle directly but by an operator aiming aiming a dish using a TV screen. Or in other words, no one on this planet has a clue how fast Stan Barrett traveled, but since he only did it one way we can certainly be sure he never set a record.
I really couldn't give a shit what you think.
Basically if this had broken the sound barrier you'd hear it.
dan taylor not necessarily
@@lvr1028 Yes necessarily, physics works like that
The lack of technical data to support the barrier being broken tells you all you need to know. Probably isn't definitely. Courageous effort though.
If he'd done it, but there was a problem with the timing apparatus, he'd have surely done it again & made damned sure the timing apparatus was working.
For me, he may well have had trans-sonic shock waves around the car, but that not the same as the car going supersonic.
No sonic boom = no supersonic travel, especially in the absence of any proof.
As Marvin The Martian would say, "KABOOM...IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO KABOOM...even if he missed it by a MPH or two...the dude had BALLS OF STEEL...Jesus Frikin Christ...back wheels lift up and he has to try and keep it under control by just the NOSE WHEEL...and its vibrating like a flag pole in a tornado...HUGE BALLS...hats off to the driver just for trying.
Whether the Bud rocket did or didn't go faster than the speed of sound is a moot point. It wouldn't be recognized as a record anyway. Aside from that, what a wicked ride! Don't know how they fit Stan Barrett's balls in that thing! In other news, nothing but crickets from the "Bloodhound" camp.?
It would still be the first supersonic car.
Correct. Bloodhound has until now been a failure.
No data no deal
No ticky, no washy...
At the very least, they can lay claim they may have touched 700mph. The footage showing the end of the burn proves they didn't hit Mach 1 (anyone see a shockwave like Thrust SSC made?). Not to mention that a shockwave would have hit that cameraman since he was in just the right spot for the peak. Never heard of anyone claiming they heard a bang, especially not from that perfect position to hear and feel it. If they really want to prove it was done...do it again, or drop it.
With the very same car in the same condition as it was in 1079
As it was in 1979
It took nearly another 2 decades to barely beat this car with far more modern technology. That alone shows me what an awesome and gutsy achievement this was. This was much more dangerous than Chuck Yeager's X-1 flights.
This is not a car, it's a tricycle! And where was the sonic boom, like Thrust SSC? Still, a lot of bravery by the driver!
Stan Barrett and Hal Needham were Hollywood stuntmen who were given an advertising brief by a company that wants to sell more beer. So obviously they broke the sound barrier. Love and peace.
Chuck Yeager was not the first to break the sound barrier in a plane just the first officially recognized. Kind of what all this is about.
alright I'm ready for it, who was the first unofficial person? This sounds like a crock of shit to me.
@@Aaron-os6gc The story goes that the Comet Rocket Fighter did, but I do not believe that. Also, a nosediving, crashing, fighter, might have, but how would you measure it. I still say that the Bell X-1 was first.
No sonic boom is the definitive answer for me.
True, that's usually the proof, even without instruments.
Cross section makes all the difference. A bullet goes supersonic, but you can’t hear it over a rocket. This thing is like the width of a pencil!
@@nathanchildress5596 can hear the tip of a bullwhip go supersonic.
The car failed to break the sound barrier.
First car supersonic on land was Thrust SSC.
@@nathanchildress5596 It would make no difference at that viewing distance. The Bud Rocket should still make a very sizeable bang. The profile might have been a lot smaller but 1) it produced a lot of supersonic base drag and an associated shockwave and 2) Thrust SSC broke windows 20 kilometres away.
Looking at these video shots of his record claiming run...I don't think that vehicle went Supersonic the 731.9 mph required on that day. As there was simply no shock waves surrounding the vehicle or on the ground close by the vehicle, as was seen with Thrust SSC's Supersonic run in 1997...But Stan went awful bloody fast that day in 1979 riding that Sidewinder Rocket For Sure!!!!
Exactly. But: no sonic boom, no speed of sound. Quiet easy. Just listen to the one of Thrust SSC. :)
I remember this when the "record" was made and I believe the only controversy was that it didn't go supersonic on the return leg. So for all practical purposes, it was the first road vehicle or motorcycle to break the sound barrier, even if the record was not recognized officially.
There was no return trip.
What a brilliant channel, these crazy cars bring back so many memories reading car facts and feats
Got to admit, that’s some pretty amazing acceleration for a car designed for top speed.
Agreed even if he didn't break the sound barrier its extremely impressive and catch's my breath each time i watch
Regardless of whether he went faster than the speed of sound or not, Stan and the team achieved something very impressive, and on top of that in 1979! It took nearly 2 decades and millions $$$ to see thrust ssc break the sos. My hats off to Stan.
Why do they need to make all these complex measurements to determine if the car has exceeded the speed of sound? If you hear a sonic boom that means it exceeded the speed of sound. Simple!
If they claimed it went SS then why didn't they try again with correct timing gear ?.... That's what everybody else did... Why didn't these guys ?
??? They used he same timing gear Chuck Yeager used to beak his record.
@@fraudsarentfriends4717 So? You can’t measure Mach number with radar. At least if you point it at the sky there’s not much risk of tracking a truck by mistake.
@@thethirdman225 The accusation that the radar never clocked the speed and instead a truck is entirely new and unverified. It is a claim made solely by this video narrator and uploader and no official from the U.S. Airforce. Sidewinder missiles break the sound barrier without sonic booms all the time. The British accent is very suspect with Bias.
@@fraudsarentfriends4717 it’s better verified that SOS’s claim that they went supersonic. It’s not my job to verify anything much. The SOS team and its supporters seem to think its everyone else’s job to prove their claim wrong. Let me put it this way: I am the world record holder for the 100 metres. Prove me wrong.
See?
Either I’m Usain Bolt or I’m pulling your leg. Either way, if I was totally serious, you’d want more than just my word for it and I’m pretty sure you’d say it wasn’t your job to prove conclusively that I’m not Usain Bolt.
Records are just that: a matter of record. They are not ever a matter of what if or speculation or conjecture. So I don’t really care about radar stories or any of that other bunk. As I said, the USAF disavowed any association with the project and the final claim was made from accelerometer data. No other data was considered, including that from the pitot head, which is the one instrument which would have recorded a Mach event because of the pressure changes. Funny how nobody ever talks about that.
This is such a great channel. Ty. I’m slowly working through the model cars of my youth. Keep going. There are so many great stories, notwithstanding histories of the places themselves, like Bonneville. Sacred ground mate.
Thank you!
I suppose the success, or not of this stunt should be measured by how much Bud sales increased.
Well if there's a question about the record, the car is sitting in a Motor Museum in Alabama, let's go get it and run it down the street one more time. 🤪
lol i went and touched it today!
Only way to be sure is to test it again to see if it can actually do it...
If you cant even set up an accurate timing system to prove the speed of your car, then that's monumentally inept team organisation. I've never heard of any other LSR record attempt that failed such a basic task.
It wasn't a record attempt as the FIA wasnt present.
wow! I've been watching some of your videos but this is the first time I've checked the comments. there are so many angry people here! Never would have guessed, considering how mellow your delivery is. people sure are upset about this record.
I used to hear sonic booms as a kid growing by the Cali coast in the '60s (they were outlawed over populated areas later). Probably testing and training missions.
This, it was said a sonic boom was heard miles away. Not an expert but this is plausible.
I'll lift a RW&B Bud in honor of this achievement. Pretty great.
My take on this is pretty simple - if you can't prove it then you didn't do it. The fact that the data from which the claim is based was never submitted for independent scrutiny speaks volumes. I suspect they went very fast - 700+mph fast - but they didn't break the sound barrier.
Timed over a distance of around 52 feet WTF !!!!!!!! No proper ACCURATE timing and no sonic boom so no sound barrier
And how did they know where to put the timing gate?
One sure thing is for the year it ran it was an outstanding independent run. As far as the record rules are rules
Thanks, this is a fair presentation of arguments pro and con.
There was and is absolutely NO controversy about this record. NOBODY is arguing that The Rocket did not go supersonic! It only missed out on the official record because they did not do two runs in an hour. The speed was verified by the same people who monitor X-plane speeds and altitudes! FILTHY LIES!
@@powderslinger5968 Your opinion does not fit the evidence presented here & this presentation is the most accurate & unbiased I have ever seen.. I live & breath LSR where shoulda woulda coulda & probably are just more uncertified noise.
I'm sorry but if you don't hear that tell tale crack, you didn't break the sound barrier. Plus you don't see any kind of high pressure compression wave on any point of the car at max speed in the video, even in dry conditions you'd see some distortion at those speeds.
One thing I notice, very evident at 9:37 is the nozzle wasn't appropriately shaped for the elevation they were running. Had it been properly shaped to make the max amount of thrust capable at that elevation, the exhaust wouldn't have been squeezing in on itself before expanding back out. It would've been a clean shape. That nozzle was meant for use at altitude with lower air pressure. (watch Scott Manley's video describing nozzle shape and Mach Diamonds)
Just curious - are you an engineer at ULA or SpaceX?
At 9:37 that shows a perfectly expanded nozzle. Its not over or under expanded. If you don't understand what your talking about you might refrain from looking like someone that doesn't know what they're talking about. A nozzle designed for high altitude has a much larger bell on it so the gases can be expanded to the air pressure at that operating altitude. In this case they're expanded the nozzle to about sea level.
Well, it seems to me that a tape from 1979 may or may not carry enough fidelity to hear the crack. The Thrust SSC crack was hard to hear over much higher fidelity video and sound. The much smaller and more aerodynamic Bud Special may have created a sonic "boom" that could not be heard over the rocket motor and wind on a 1979 tape 40 years later.
As for the nozzle design, I expect it was correct for the car and altitude. These guys knew their business, and this was 10 years after the Blue Flame went 662 mph. I would think that an engineer with the actual nozzle in hand would be the only one able to tell us definitively if there was an issue with it.
2:50 - Loving the Datsun 280ZX in the foreground. I'm an old Z car nut!
Same here!!! I love it!!
I don't care if he did or didn't. That is,in my opinion,the coolest speed run.
The fact that there was an eight hour delay in making the claim indicates the team's doubt about his true peak speed. Furthermore, whether he exceeded the speed of sound or not, he bent the internationally accepted rules beyond any recognition, and didn't have any reliable data to say what speed he really reached, so no proper claim can be made. We'll never know what he did, and the answer is irrelevant.
If they have video with visual referances and know the length of the course how do they not know how fast it was going?
Gee officer I was only going 38 mph.
plot twist
the rocket car was actually going at 38mph
"Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!" -Marvin the Martian
The only problem i have is with all the controversy, why didn't they make another attempt with more & better timing equipment. Also they couldn't design the car 4' maybe 5' longer to hold more fuel to hold Mach 1 longer for maybe a mile or more??
So crazy, making an attempt to reach a certain speed and they are relying on on one radar gun only?? Cool event to watch, but so disappointing.
That they could build a car capable of breaking the sound barrier and NOT have the necessary speed detection equipment is ridiculous. Like so many things I've seen they went 90% in but not 100% and for that reason, in addition to the lack of sonic boom, the sketchy IMU data that's never been released, and the timing results that have also never been released its a no brainer -- they did NOT break the sound barrier and if they did there is no reliable evidence they did. So close...
They must’ve started testing the sponsors product before they made it that far
Budweiser might be labelled king of beers at 5% proof, land speed record supersonic Zero proof plus Budweiser have been sued for the crime of watering down their beer not to be trusted .Still credit to Stan Barrett for strapping a rocket to his ass much respect
BUDWEISER DONATED TRUCKLOADS OF CANNED WATERS TO THE HURRICANE VICTIMS IN HOUSTON SEVERAL YEARS AGO ... Y'ALL SHOULD LOSE YOUR ANTI-BUD SNARK JUST BECAUSE OF THEIR CHARITY ... SHEEEEESH !!
If you find out where the camera was positioned at in contrast to where the vehicle is at a 90° angle to the runway then you can calculate the speed.
Okay, so they can't prove that they went supersonic in that run. Did it not occur to any of them to simply fix the problems with the timing equipment and make another run?!?
N1RKW or better yet, why didn't they simply use a timing Beam like every other record car in the history of record cars. Everyone, from Arfons to Breedlove, to Campbell to Noble, all used timing beams. I wonder why this team didn't?
Actually, I don't wonder why. Anyone with a brain knows why they didn't.
@@RB747domme I suspect that you are correct. Unproven records can still become legendary (as this one seems to have) and in doing so becomes an even bigger ad for the major company that sponsored it.
@@RB747domme anyone with a brain, or even anyone who listened to the video properly wouldn't make a stupid comment like that.
They used radar to track the car and its speed was certified.
@@AIM54A Really and what do you know about Radar??? Did you know that the radar in question couldn't automatically follow the car due to its small radar cross section, but had to be aimed by a man using a joystick and a TV camera!!!! Having had to operate equipment on an electronic warfare range in the same manner, I wouldn't claim anything using that method of tracking to work out the speed of something. Too many errors induced by the man in the radar!!! Anyhow if you want to use radar to track anything when doing a trial to work out its speed, you use a Doppler Transponder radar system with Automatic tracking. This is what is used when testing missiles and it involves fitting a doppler transponder to the thing you want to measure the velocity of.
Any vehicle that goes over 700 mph is not a publicity stunt, sounds like a few unhappy brits on this post
up yours!
But far more unhappy yanks... no sonic boom = no supersonic speeds. And the USAF recording 38 mph ha ha. Go cry into your milk.
Man, POHMs get butt hurt pretty easily don’t they.
@@effortlessly far more unhappy yanks? Didn't realize everyone was announcing their nationality. Quit making assumptions.
j g I was responding to Guy Smalley claiming that there ‘are a few unhappy brits on here’, far from it, all the brits are delighted they are the first to take a car supersonic. I was merely pointing out that it’s the yanks that are unhappy, since they failed in their endeavour. You’re welcome.
Looks like a similar design to that of the blue flame!
What happened to the Eagle car after the tragic crash? I’ve never read anything about it since then or even seen photos of the wreckage. Is it wrecked beyond repair or could it run again?
No hope. It was a bad idea in the first place. It's too bad it ended that way but sadly, I'm not at all surprised.
Budweiser also make some pretty dubious claims about their primary product.
Nope, he didnt..
if he had, the data would have been shared to be confirmed by other.
- but since he didnt, the data is missing !
Chuck Yeager is THE MAN! Gotta love Chuck Yeager. An amazing person.
I've met him. I was a bit disappointed, actually. Bob Hoover was more impressive. Nice guy.
great video, as a kid we had a photo of this in our shop. 2:45 does anyone know what kind of car that is beside the rocket?
Nissan S130 ( Datsun 280ZX)
If there was no boom then this rocket-powered car did not reach the speed of sound! I never heard a boom in this video. Actually I never heard anything but talking in this video!
If the car wasn't able to fulfill the requirements of the established rules then it really doesn't matter if they went supersonic or not. They DON'T get credit for the effort.
They get credit from me for the effort. It's insane!
Just baught a 1980 card game with this and other rocket racers from my childhood. Thanks for sharing this video !!!!!!!!! :)
Burden of proof lies with the claimant. If you decide to disregard all established measurement rules of official land speed records, and then turn up with a bunch of inconclusive data, that's just your own damn fault then.
My brother called one morning in 1980, the Budweiser SOS rocket car was on our property. The car was being towed across country in a customized glider trailer. The tow vehicle had come in for a bit of unscheduled service. I hustled over and got an up close tour. Made my day.
Very doubtfull .No boom , no sound barrier .
Lack of a sonic boom makes me wonder.
The letter from the USAF was signed by Pete Knight, who was an X-15 pilot and exceeded 4500 mph during one such flight.
If they were wholly confident they would have released every bit of data to prove their case..
Not to take anything away from stan but i do not believe that they broke the speed of sound that day. Thay did give it the old collage try as they say. Bottom line is no sonic boom no supersonic run. Hal the car owner did not want to play by the rules and did not run on what would be considered an official course length.
So the USAF at the Dry Lake (The x-plane people) lied to us? Screw your head on straight.
@@powderslinger5968 Hmm, let's see USAF might be lying... absolutely!!
@@powderslinger5968 The radar tracking was done manually as the radar couldn't automatically follow the car due to its small radar cross section. Also the radar wasn't designed to track things close to the ground but high in the air where things like multi path radar reflections do not cause a problem. By this I mean that the radar beam hits ground and is reflected up, then hits target which reflects echo into the ground which is then reflected back to the radar. If this signal is strong enough it will be stronger than the direct path energy (radar energy goes directly to the target and is reflected directly back) and the incorrect range data will be plotted by the radar. A semi active radar homing surface to air missile system I worked on suffered with this problem and a number of missiles fired at low level targets ended up diving into the ground in front of the target because the energy of the signal reflected of the target and then off the ground was stronger than that off the target alone!!! The radar in this used stunt wasn't designed to track things on the ground.
There really is not any solid proof, so it does not really count in the land speed world.
Perhaps not officially but he was definitely traveling at speed. Anyone piloting that craft is an absolute madlad. Can't even shut the solid booster down? Uh huh. I guess if anything would have happened he'd have been dead long before he knew something had happened. Human lawn dart!
The real Bad Bob it wasn’t supposed to be a land speed record. Did you not watch the video? They were just trying to be the first to go supersonic on land. If they were chasing an official record they would have run it both ways.
@@lvr1028 That’s true but it’s extremely unlikely they went supersonic.
“why do you drink Budweiser.”
“CUZ ITS ON A ROCKET CAR!!!!!!”
“oh.”
What an awesome and spectacular achievement! Seeing that sidewinder light up, sent chills.
If it did not, in fact, go supersonic, you can be sure it came damned close!
If there was a sonic boom, it did, if there wasn't it didn't. Not sure why there is ANY controversy. You sure as hell heard one when SSC ran, and it did it all the way through the traps, both ways! Game over, at least for Mach 1 on the ground. Breaking the SSCs measured speed is the first, and I K MPH seems to be the next target, and this machine has/had ZERO chance of doing either one. ;-) No controversy, just hype. Good luck to the Aussie team, if they ever actually get the thing done. This seems more just a stupid publicity stunt.
Could we not tell by the picture frame rate or any other method in 2021 to figure out if he did it ???
Might have been good to have an aerial view of the event. The disturbance to surface just behind the vehicle nose and visible as line perpendicular to travel - as seen with SSC - would help the argument. Audible sound is tricky as a clue at low altitude. Someone at some distance should have heard a ‘whooping’ noise and crack…
But I cannot count it out, they may have done it. We are left with one of those, ‘did Mallory reach the summit of Everest?’ things.