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The Bloodhound Project Andy Green

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Andy Green

Driver

 

Day Job

I have the World’s Best day job, as a Fighter Pilot in the Royal Air Force. I was sponsored through Oxford University by the Royal Air Force (where I gained a love of flying, a First in Mathematics, experience of rowing for the University, and interests in beer and women), and then spent 3 years in flying training. Qualified as a Fighter Pilot, I was lucky enough to fly the F4 Phantom in Germany at the end of the Cold War. My final flying tours were on the Tornado F3, which included service over Bosnia, Iraq and the Falklands. Since then I’ve spent a year in Australia at Staff College, worked at the UK’s Joint Headquarters running operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and run the Harrier airfield at Royal Air Force Wittering (including a spell as the Commander of the Royal Air Force detachment in Kandahar, Afghanistan). I’m currently working in the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, supporting operations around the globe and wishing I was still flying....

Holiday Job

I also have the World’s Best holiday job, working as part of a Land Speed Record team. In 1994 I responded to an understated article in the Sunday Times, which mentioned that Richard Noble was looking for a driver for Thrust SSC, and life has never been quite the same since. Two World Land Speed Records and 11 years later, Thrust SSC remains the world’s first and only supersonic record car. In the meantime, I was also lucky enough to get involved with the JCB DIESELMAX project, which aimed to find out how fast we could go with a pair of digger engines in close formation. The answer, in August 2006, was 350 mph, making a JCB by far the fastest diesel car in the world. Like Thrust SSC, the DIESELMAX project was a great statement about the quality, innovation and expertise of British engineering - and I am proud to have been able to help with both.

Other Interests

Captain of the Royal Air Force Cresta team, Yachtmaster, aerobatic pilot (sadly, my flying is only at weekends now, and at my own expense), Harley rider, skydiver – the usual stuff to keep me entertained when I’m not at work or involved with a record car.

I also have the best wife in the world. Emma is an eye specialist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and is fully supportive of all the unusual things I get up to in my spare time. When we met in 2007 she had never even heard of the World Land Speed Record. That’s changed!

Photos:

Prince Michael of Kent meets Andy Green

Farnborough July 2010

Andy Green introduces HRH Prince Michael of Kent to the team

Farnborough July 2010

Andy Green at the Autosport Show

Stefan Marjoram

Andy Green in Edinburgh

Stefan Marjoram

Related Articles

In Search of Speed

Friday, 5 April, 2013 - 07:39

University of the West of England (UWE) film students used BLOODHOUND as the subject for their final year project. They visited the BLOODHOUND Technical Centre, conducted interviews with the team and produced this fantastic film:

Credits:
Written and directed by Keith Scott
Director of photography Ollie Green
Sound by Chris Waywell
Edited by Anna Rashleigh
Visual effects by Flock London
Key animation supervisor Tav Fleet

Desert Update, July 2012

Thursday, 16 August, 2012 - 10:28

300 people clearing Hakskeen Pan

This is a difficult update to write because I can’t really describe in words the scale of what is happening in South Africa.

I’ve just got back from a technical survey of the desert work (and some media interviews, to explain how we are getting on) and I’m still amazed by what I’ve seen.  I was with a couple of experienced journalists, who were fairly quiet over dinner after their visit to the Pan, as they tried to grasp the enormity of what they’d just seen.

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Blogs

Andy Green’s Diary – April 2013

Tuesday, 30 April, 2013

Project Bloodhound is about more than just building the world’s first 1000 mph Car (impressive though that will be).  Our long-term legacy is the Bloodhound Education Programme, which continues to go from strength to strength.  Our latest schools competition is the chance to design the colour scheme for my helmet.  I’ve got 2 helmets so we’re going to pick 2 winners, one from the UK and one from South Africa.  The winners will get a schools visit from Bloodhound, plus a chance to come and see the Car run for themselves.  The competition closes on 10 May, so there’s still time to enter. if you’re quick.

Andy Green’s Diary – March 2013

Wednesday, 27 March, 2013

Some breaking news this month.  We’ve been working on timings for the final build of Bloodhound SSC for a couple of months now, to see if it is practical to get out there by the end of this year.  With some 200 technical partners, product sponsors and suppliers to include in the planning, it’s a wide-ranging conversation!  We have also had to take into account the weather in the Northern Cape in South Africa, where we are going to run.  The rainy season stretches from about November through to April, so the weather could stop us running during that period.  

So here’s the new plan that we’re now going to deliver – we will be test-running the EJ200 jet engine in the Car in October of this year (our fifth Birthday: how time flies when you’re building a 1000 mph Car), followed by runway testing at the start of 2014 and then off to South Africa around Easter next year.

Andy Green’s Diary – February 2013

Wednesday, 27 February, 2013

As a Royal Air Force Fighter Pilot, I like to think that I’ve got a reasonable understanding of aircraft and how they work.  However, the more time I spend on Bloodhound, the more I learn about just how amazing airplanes, and fast jets in particular, really are.  Bloodhound SSC is aiming to do over 1000 mph, which is faster than any aircraft – even the Royal Air Force’s latest Typhoon fighter – can travel at ground level.  If we’re going to go that fast, then we’ve got to do this better than any aeroplane, and that’s a huge task. 

Andy Green’s Diary – January 2013

Monday, 21 January, 2013
One of the great things about working on Bloodhound is that we all share in the ‘Engineering Adventure’. Our long-term aim is to inspire a generation of young people about the magic of science and technology. In the meantime, while they are learning about Bloodhound technology, I get to learn a huge amount about it as well – and it’s fascinating.

Andy Green Diary December 2012

Friday, 28 December, 2012

Just back from Los Angeles, where I went to launch a film in Hollywood.  OK, so the film was only 3 minutes long, but still, I can claim a Hollywood film launch!  The ‘Future of Speed’ was made in a Bentley Mulsanne at 190 mph on Bonneville Salt Flats (and at 190 mph, 3 minutes is a long time). 

Andy Green Diary – October 2012

Monday, 5 November, 2012
It worked – and how! Firing our hybrid rocket in public this month, with a huge international media presence and a global on-line audience, not to mention a number of our supporters’ club Gold Members, was a little nerve-wracking. This is what we had promised from day one – an Engineering Adventure that everyone could share in ...

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