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ImageShack.usFound this in an old diary 18th Dec 1979 looks like a Daily Telegraph clip thought this might be of interest to readers of the thread it reads :
By Ian Brodie in Mojave, California
Stan Barrett, a Hollywood stunt man whose previous feats of daring were as a double for someone else, yesterday entered the record books as the first person to break the sound barrier on land and to drive at more than 700 mph.
Barrett, 36, steering a cigar shaped vehicle powered by a rocket motor and a military missile along a six-mile stretch of dry lake bed in the Mohave Desert, reached a speed of 739.666 mph, according to US Air Force radar.
He made his run at 20F, when the sound barrier, which drops with temprature, was 731.9 mph.
There was no sonic boom but those of us on the sidelines heard a low rumble. Barrett said at top speed he felt resistance and then a smooth patch followed by a jolt as though he had hit a brick wall.
He had wedged himself into the tiny cockpit of the bright red Budweiser rocket at dawn, placed an oxygen mask over his hace, ignited the rocket and tensely awaited the countdown.
Flash of flame
Then in a flash of flame and dust, he roared down the course with a force of 48,000 horsepower. After 12 seconds he boosted this to 60,000 horsepower by firing his Sidewinder missile which his sponsors had bought from the Pentagon.
Normally the sidewinder is used as a heat seeking air to air missile.
The added power was enough to give the extra miles per hour Barrett has been seeking since September when he first beat the previous highest timed speed achieved on land by man - 631 mph set by Gary Gabelich in a rocket car in 1970.
But to get the added thrust to carry Barrett from the 600 mph range to the transonic and supersonic levels required the "MORE" (my caps) than doubling the amount of power.*
At the end of his Supersonic run, Barrett who calls himself a "born again Christian" wiped tears from his eyes and paused to say a prayer.
Joining him in this moment of reverence in the desert were Hal Needham owner of the rocket car and himself a former Hollywood stunt man who went on to make a fortune directing such films as 'Smokey and the Bandit', and 'Hopper,' and Bill Frederick, a veteran engineer who designed and built the vehicle and who has dreamed of breaking the sound barrier since he was a boy.
Barrett, far removed from the usual image of a hell-raising stunt man, rewarded himself with a tub of strawberry ice cream.
He was joined by his wife Penny, and their two son's and daughter aged five to eight.
Among the first to congratulate Barrett was Chuck Yeager, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier, who became the first man through the sound barrier when he flew a Bell XS-1 rocket plane in 1947 over the same terrain as Barrett.
Although Barrett has no race-driving experience, he was chosen to drive the Budweiser rocket because of his superbly quick reflexes. He keeps in condition by running ten miles a day and doing 500 sit ups.
A former Golden Gloves lightweight boxer, he was best known before driving the rocket as a stunt-man stand in for Paul Newman and Burt Reynolds.
His most spectacular stunt was in 'Hopper' when he drove a motor-cycle under a moving lorry.
Barrett had an agonising eleven hour wait while his speed was confirmed. He had run out of fuel 900 feet short of two timing devices and so had to rely on the radar at Edwards Air Force base.
The U.S. Air Force did not relish being in the position of sole arbiter. After a prolonged analysis of a computer printout and several high-level conferences, a cautious statement was issued.
Cautious Verdict
It said the radar was not calibrated for testing high-speed land runs and in the opinion of the Air Force its findings would not be sanctioned by international bodies which recognise speed records.
Still the Air Force said its data showed that at one point Barrett was above Mach One - the speed of sound - for an average speed of 739.666 mph.**
The technology of the Budweiser rocket will not do much for commuters driving their cars to work.
It is driven by a combination of solid and liquid fuels in addition to the missile.
Liquid hydrogen peroxide goes through a catalyst and decomposes creating superheated steam and oxygen at a temperature of 1,370 degrees. That in turn erodes a solid fuel called polybutadiene which automatically ignites as soon as it is gaseous.
The fuel was the equivalent of 650 gallons of petrol, giving Barrett a fuel consumption of roughly 17 yards to the gallon.
The three wheels of the vehicle were of forged aluminium because at 9,300 rpm rubber tyres would have dis-integrated.
Most of the $1 million required for the car was put up by the makers of Budweiser, the largest - selling beer in the world.
* if this article has any truth in the details then Barrett would have needed 96,000 horsepower plus based on the 48,000 hp he had available to go over 631 mph plus without the side winder.
** hard to grasp how at 'one' point an 'average' speed of 739.666 was achieved, surely either at 'one' point a 'top' speed of 739.666 was achieved or more accurately between 'two' points an average speed of 739.666 mph was achieved.
As ever more questions than answers from the most contemporary of reports :-)
). It start more hilerious when there was a raffle and Kitty had the number for the first prize - she was not aware of, due to this that she couldn't hear the announcer. Kitty is very publicity shy.
