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<\/a>“Computational Fluid Dynamics is one of the main components of the car and we have to get it right,” McGlashan told Curtin News.<\/p>\n
“The nose and skirt around the front wheels are the (aerodynamically) dirtiest parts of the car and the Curtin team is proving really helpful with that.”<\/p>\n
McGlashan wants to beat former RAF wing commander and current 1228 km\/h world record holder Andy Green to the magical 1000 mile per hour mark.<\/p>\n
That’s 1609 km\/h in metric, or Mach 1.4 in supersonic, speak.<\/p>\n
Green was the first man to create a sonic boom in a car – at Mach 1.02 in 1997, a feat McGlashan has not yet achieved.<\/p>\n
“There’s no point being second (to the 1000 mph mark),” 802.6 km\/h Australian record holder McGlashan said.<\/p>\n
“It’s like Chuck Yeager when he went through the sound barrier, Mach 1 (in a fighter jet).<\/p>\n
“The next guy went Mach 4 but not too many people have ever heard of him.”<\/p>\n
James Jewkes, Dr Andrew King, Dr Ben Mullins and two fourth-year engineering students from Curtin are providing their engineering services free of charge.<\/p>\n
“It’s absolutely incredible what he’s doing,” Dr Jewkes said.<\/p>\n
“We’re building a three dimensional model of his land speed record car and modelling the supersonic flow around it.<\/p>\n
“We’re looking at the forces and modifying the design to limit the drag.”<\/p>\n
Dr Jewkes said one of the students was focusing on the design of the front wheel, while the other was concentrating on the rear axle and wing.<\/p>\n
“(McGlashan) has got this rocket engine he’s managed to import from the US,” Dr Jewkes said.<\/p>\n
“You talk to the guy and it’s fascinating.<\/p>\n
“He’s got this real can-do approach.”<\/p>\n
Dr Jewkes said a baseline model had already been completed for the current design of Aussie Invader<\/em>.<\/p>\n “It’s a real nice project for the students,” he said.<\/p>\n “It’s an emotive topic and they have some fun doing it and learning about Computational Fluid Dynamics and supersonic flow in the process.”<\/p>\n McGlashan speculated the work could be the tip of a career iceberg for the Curtin students.<\/p>\n “The big thing I’ve said to the (Curtin) team is that the US car Blue Flame<\/em> (which held the land speed record for 27 years from 1970) was built with the help of Chicago Institute of Technology,” he said.<\/p>\n “And all of the guys who worked on that went onto top engineering positions.”<\/p>\n