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Fledgling UK airline CargoLogicAir, will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the show today to be the exclusive air cargo partner for the developer of the Bloodhound supersonic car.
The Bristol-based Bloodhount Project will attempt to set a new world land speed record in South Africa in 2017 with the Bloodhound, and to break the 1,000mph (1,600km/h) barrier with the car in 2018.
CargoLogicAir – which began operations in February - performed the first public loading of the Bloodhound at Farnborough yesterday. A full-scale mock-up of the car was inserted into the nose of the carrier’s new Boeing 747-8 Freighter.
The MoU will see CargoLogicAir fly the Bloodhound from its UK base to and from South Africa, where its world record attempts will take place on the Hakskeenpan dried lake bed in the Northern Cape. The flights to Upington airport will also carry support equipment, and the airline will provide a resupply and returns service for the transportation of car parts and equipment.
“What better way to alert people to the fact that there is a new British all-cargo airline than to support such an exciting and entrepreneurial project as Bloodhound,” says CargoLogicAir chief executive Dmitry Grishin. “What excites us is not only the skills and commitment of the Bloodhound team but, more specifically, that the project has such a strong educational ethos that aims to inspire a new generation of young people to start a career in science and engineering.”
The Bloodhound team, led by product director Richard Noble, and driver Andy Green hopes to set a new world land speed record of 800mph next year before returning to South Africa in 2018 to try for the 1,000mph target.
Andy Green holds the current record of 763.035mph, which he set in 1997 in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, driving the Thrust Supersonic Car. Richard Noble, also project director of ThrustSSC, held the world record himself of 633.468mp/h from 1983 to 1997.
Both men are attending Farnborough to tour CargoLogicAir’s 747-8 F and provide an update on the progress of the project.
CargoLogicAir’s participation in the world land speed record attempt follows that of its partner, Volga-Dnepr Group in 1997. Then, with the weather window for the attempt quickly disappearing and the prospect of it taking several weeks to move ThrustSSC and all of its support equipment to the US by sea and land, Volga-Dnepr stepped in and helped the team transport everything from the UK to the USA within 24h onboard its Antonov 124-100. This transport solution was recognised as a major contributing factor in helping ThrustSSC break through the sound barrier on its way to the record.
Speaking about this experience, Richard Noble says: "Thanks to Volga-Dnepr, the car and team arrived without a scratch and we realised this was the only way to move the team."
Headquartered at London Stansted airport, CargoLogicAir also operates a 747-400F. The airline expects to grow its fleet to five aircraft within its first five years of operation.
Source: Flight Daily News
