The lack of protection in the cockpit is a scary thought.. i dont think this vehichle would have passed safety inspection at bonneville or any land speed record event
When you know enough to think your right, but not enough to know your wrong... On a shoestring budget is not the way to approach a project like this. One dead, everyone else morally crippled for life.
@@billmiller7138 The days of the good ol' boys are over in this field. Running a car at fighting jet speeds isn't a back-yard project. Just look at the expertise and resources behind the Bloodhound project, and even they haven't got it done yet.
The North American Eagle was a death trap. No roll cage, no driver protection, just a former aircraft fuselage that was modified. Go look at any other land speed car and look at the driver compartment and look how much steel is used.
Sad to watch this after her passing. I can only imagine what the team is feeling, not to mention family and friends. RIP Jessi (From a fellow racer at heart)
The problem? To save money, they used the fuselage of a F-104 Starfighter. You'd think they'd realize, using a fuselage so old would be a bad idea. Jessi Combs died in the crash.
AS A TEAM THIS ENTIRE FAMILY.... LOST 1 OF THEIR OWN,,JESSI, what a lady she inspired more youth,Men & women than we"ll EVER know. What a class act, her enthusiam and competetive desire will live forever . my deepest reguards to her friends and family.
respectfully very sorry for the loss of a great wonderful person Jessi, secondly sorry to all her friends family and loved ones who were close to her, and sorry for the opportunity to obtain the world record with all of your crews hard effort over two decades of blood, sweat, and tears..GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU
Keith zanghi,, when we worked together at Boeing in the 90's at Auburn I enjoyed your stories of speed and your quest to own the the world speed record,, I am now 79 years of age and still believe in you and your team efforts,, just wanted you to know I have not given up on you,,I drive a 430 HP mustang daily and when I get on it and the earth is passing by very rapid I think of your North American Eagle with delight,,live long and go fast my friend
If you think about death, you'll never get out of bed in the morning. I'm 58, I still ride high power sport bikes. I could die every time I ride them. I just don't give it a seconds thought. Wear the proper safety gear every time, and go enjoy it. That's life! I love F-104's, btw. Have since I was a little boy. Always fascinated with it's appearance, the T-tail, the little teeny anhedral wings. Just an awesome airplane.
Never mind Bloodhound, take a look at the painstaking way Thrust SSC was designed, wind tunnel & rocket sled tested. The forces involved in transonic & supersonic speeds on land are immense and aircraft don't have the ground interfering with airflow. A tragic end to this project which involved a lot of well-meaning talented people but it always seemed to me to be unrealistic and foolhardy. For example, little thought seemed to have put into driver protection. The F-104's primary pilot safety device was its ejection seat - not a practical idea in a car prone to enormous ground forces never mind if it tumbles in an accident.
Feel just sick about the loss of this larger then life wonderful women. R.I.P Jessi ! Best of the Best ! You are loved by so many. And my heart bleeds for her family and her loved ones.
Tater Chip has Jessi been removed from the project? I would have thought that she would be a really great candidate to drive the record runs. Why would they they remove her from the project? That seems a bit mean after setting her own women's record. Has she joined an aerial acrobatic group called Angels of Speed? I also hope she flies well with the team. I didn't know she was a pilot. I join your sentiments, godspeed Jess, and fly safe. It's probably safer than driving at supersonic speeds on land, if I'm honest. But good luck Ed Shadle and everyone else at the North American Eagle team. Time is running out, because now Aussie invader 5r is built, and the the British LSR project has a new owner, they have less time than ever to set the new record.
Robert Quesada do you mean she suffers with 'm e' ? That can be a really debilitating condition. I didn't know no that was the reason she was removed from the project. If that's the case, then that's really sad. That family have gone through hell in recent years, financially, losing Ed, and now Jesse suffering with illness, you wonder when they are ever going to get a break. Jeez.
he hesitated when he said it, and you could see him thinking 'well it didn't, but it kinda did' and a quick image of ford's assembly line was all he could recall.
Ted Smith The very first road vehicle propelled by an engine ( in this case a steam engine ) is french . In 1770 , Nicolas Joseph Cugnot made a demonstration of his " Fardier " : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas-Joseph_Cugnot . & here on UA-cam : ua-cam.com/video/XsEbeCrPcA8/v-deo.html
Oh the arrogance. Right at the start, 0:17 - 0.25. Well, Bloodhound just finished their first actual test session yesterday with 628mph on their 11th high speed trial and 32nd run total, three weeks after rolling out of the trailer, even though they are missing the second engine. The Brits are advancing methodically, they are prepared, the vehicle is well designed, and the track is cleaned obsessively.
Exactly!!!! I never had a good feeling for the design of that vehicle. I always thought that it wasn't safe , the wheels were too small for the size of it rip Jessie 😢
@@johnalarcon5006 Richard Noble said he felt the NAE project was dangerous, you don't listen to someone who has held the record and project managed the building of LSR cars, Art Arfons said in "the fastest men on earth" book that the record was now unobtainable for people working from their garage. People with experience commented and no one listened, jessie sadly paid the price.
@@lewisb85 Exactly, only because they dont have the funding that those big firms have , those big firms have the money to access everything aerospace wind tunnel testing ect.... my brother in law used to work for " wroar" if i spelled it correctly a aerospace division of the BF Goodrich company , he did metal exact testing he use to test metals fatigue at different temperatures and pressures
@@lewisb85 besides the wingless aircraft that she wes driving had way too small wheels , im not an aerospace engineer but im thinking that had something to do with her death. Im sorry she died either way 😔
@@johnalarcon5006 Yeah Noble said about the small wheels he said about them digging into sand when running in the desert. Classic example of not listening to someone who knows better than you.
Its a pity this project never fulfilled the dreams behind it. We can only hope that someday their dreams will be met. Excellent mini documentary. In England we usually only have ‘Men in Sheds’ to inspire us, I guess in the US you have ‘Millionaires in Hangers’
God bless Jessi such a awesome woman who touched the lives of so many. I still remember the first time I saw her on extreme 4x4 back when I was in trade school myself i think every car enthusiast fell in love with her at first sight. Looking at this all now in hindsight the pursuit of setting a 800 mph plus land speed record utilizing a 1960s war plane and a budget of 250,000$ to try and beat a purpose built twin engine jet car that had a budget of over 3 million to build seems a bit foolish to me now. I get the temptation of the massive bragging rights of pulling it off as a underdog I’m sure every racer can relate to that but this seems like it was a recipe for disaster from day one.
I don't know if I can believe that info about this F104 being the golden chase aircraft for such legendary projects. No way the US would just toss it out in the gutter like that even if it was wrecked. Maybe it was an early fuselage at best. None the less, still a nice barn find.
I for one would love to try for 1000 plus on land. Trying and accomplishing it would be a great day for us all knowing that you were able to get there would make all the heartbreak and hard work so sweet
Under the Northwest Now tab at kbtc.org is a page called "Special Projects." I have posted an update to this program there. It includes cuts from an interview with Jessi that never aired. I really enjoyed getting to know the NAE team in 2016, and I've stayed in touch since - point being, I can comment directly that they are a great group of people. There are a lot of broken hearts about how this effort ended.
@22.04 he said about not destroying a perfectly good aeroplane ... he did not refer to it as a car but a plane despite it being a land speed record..... Very sad that Jesse lost her life.
I guess speed records will never be safe, but this kind of kitchen-table approach just wasn't up to the challenge and Jessi Combs paid the price. They were trying to run a car faster than the world record for a military jet at low altitude - maybe just too much for a group of good old boys. The UK Bloodhound project is far more sophisticated - involving bleeding-edge university departments and high-tech companies. Now it's properly funded they had a problem-free test in South Africa, hitting their target of 600 mph in just a few days with only one of the two engines installed. Provided the data matches their models, they should be attempting the record in 2020, with a good chance of topping 1000 mph safely.
I always hoped something like instability during high speed testing would convince Ed to give it up. Alas, it took the too-high cost of Jessi Comb's young life to put an end to the project. I really think that now that the record to beat is Mach 1.1, eyeball-designed LSRs should be a thing of the past. Look at Thrust SSC. Finite element analysis, rocket sled testing, wind tunnel testing... on one run at over 600mph, the suspension collapsed, and all Andy Green said was "Oh, dear," and he brought the car safely to rest, upright and otherwise undamaged. It was designed to be safe and stable, even when Andy entered the measured mile after a pounding sonic boom, a huge bow wave evident in the track, and Andy with his hands crossed on the steering wheel, Twice.
I logged in to let you know that you sound like kind of a bitch. But RIP Jessi you will be missed, and you are a badass and this is what the land speed record is all about. you fuckin' did it.
Andy Green had dictated that the rear suspension be locked at the highest setting, instead of being under software control. He found out on that run why the rear suspension was dynamic, happily without killing himself. After that he gained some trust in the software engineer who had told him it was dangerous and might get him killed. But yes, the British team engineered their car from scratch. Which is why their driver is alive to brag about it.
YOU ARE 1000% spot on, the British ThrustSSC had the smartest aeronautical and F1 engineers on the planet with forensic levels of scientific development plus piloted by an RAF ace. Compare this to the hubris North American boomer death trap powered by incompetence and hubris using a cold war relic fighter jet fuselage. WHY would any sane rational person think this hunk of junk with boomer tech development will beat the SSC?!? its no surprise it tragically killed its pilot looking at this documentary and the criminal level incompetence shown in its development. This is almost EXACTLY the same pattern shown as with the ocean gate tragedy: hubris baby Boomer thinks hes smarter than everyone else and develops his own 'superior' contraption..
Chopping the wings of a mass-produced plane is a cost-efficient way to get a jet-car. But the backward-swept wings was the things keeping the body facing straight into the oncoming air. Without them, the body needed more development for stability. They even persisted with the original tail. Dear God...
@@skunkbucket9408 They have to swept back more than a certain degree to be classified, as such? (but yeah, I reckon the F-104's wings were not swept back extreme enough to make the needed difference to this car's stability, anyway)
I am surprised at the dollar amount he has in it. I thought it would be a lot more with fuel. Perhaps it is but I was guessing about 4 million. Fuel and everything. Keith Kuhn
I think he was referring to how much of his own money he personally had in it. They were actively recruiting sponsorships and donations so the total is likely much more than 250K.
Very, very, very cool. Especially for us fans of the F104 Starfighter and all the pilots that flew it like Chuch Yeager and company. I just wonder how these guys get their funding!
I'm just just American, I'm a Texan. And I even know the automobile didn't start here. Maybe the first mass produced, but not the start. Mercedes and Benz was the first real automobile. And if I remember correctly that was 1896.
Imagine my surprise to see the name "Donald Sorlie" on the side of the car as one of the test pilots who had flown it. His son Richard was one of my best friends on board the USS Coral Sea CVA-43 in Navigation Dept in the '70's. Rich was a great guy, always fun to be around -- I wonder how much of that he picked up from his dad?
I'm a Briton and damned proud of my country's achievements, but I am a firm believer in garden shed wonders (any britt will know what I mean) but as I read the comments by so many know nothings on both sides of the fence my blood boils! This is an attempt by a brave man to go.... ummm rather fast (the fastest I've ever been on an mc was just over the ton, you couldnt get me to go at lunatic speeds in excess of 200mph! 800mph +?FFS try to put me in that cockpit and I'll tear your throat out with my teeth(ok..dentures..)I think this guy is made of the right stuff, and whether he makes his dream or not, good on him, most dont even try! Well Done sir, and any man with that sort of courage wil always get a sir of respect from me.
Interesting, but I doubt it will challenge for the record with those rubber tyres on. I assume they have a plan for the wheels....? Oh, also, automobiles didn't originate in America, but in Germany. Daimler-Benz produced what is widely recognised as the first internal-combustion powered automobile.
Very interesting story and a tremendous long term Engineering challenge...I tip my hat gentlemen. Sad to hear Jessi died in the last run. Has anyone heard any details of what happened? I can't find any video of the crash run here on youtube, nor any telemetry accounts of the run anywhere online. I do question whether or not it was prudent to have Jessi behind the wheel of an 18,000 lbf of thrust jet car with her limited experience for anything but modest run speeds, but would of course like to see the data before commenting further (a Ph.D. Engineer who works for a large American defense contractor aerospace company.
I believe she had gone over 400 mph in a previous run. There was a problem so she could not back it up with another run in the allotted time. You must make 2 runs and you get the average speed of both runs to make a record. Loved her. She will be missed.
“They’re in that computer world” 😳 “They bring their parents and neighbors up here..” The bloodhound - they were pros and they couldn’t even pull this off.
There are hands on, learn by doing people. And there are brainiac nerds. The latter perceive all sorts of conceptual problems and potential contingencies and would never embark on this sort of project. The former would, of course. But they will inherently be ignorant of what they don't know. And wont know it until they experience it hands on. The people behind this project and the unfortunate lady who perished are squarely in the "hands on" category. (The S, in the Myers-Briggs personality term). It's funny how thw S's don't like the N's, and the N's always envy the S's. But N's also know or will figure out what the S's don't know and can see those catastrophes from a decade away.
A great informative video well put together. It’s a shame that America doesn’t support these guys ,I feel they will break a record even for a little time, but perhaps it will attract serious sponsors to invest and ultimately reignite the America dream.
Too many speed record chasers end up dead for most governments to support them. "I gave a million dollars to a guy who killed himself with it" just isn't a great campaign slogan!
The USA has not held the Land Speed Record for many years now. But we were the first to take a car to the moon and actually filmed guys driving the thing. We hold the Moon LSR there! And we put a little car on Mars as well. No human driver but when it happens it will probably be us. Kidding aside I commend the British for smashing and keeping the LSR here on Earth. Well done Brits.
4:55 Ed says they paid $3,000 to truck if from Maine to Washington which is about 3,000 miles. The cost of operating a car is about 60 cents per mile. How can a Class 8 truck operate at $1.00 per mile?
The tie down straps/chocks they were using on the static test runs took a hell of a lot of stress, the manufacturers should use the North American Eagles in their advertising, brilliant selling point, unless like GE they don’t want any association with the project. Excellent documentary, interesting, informative and entertaining. Thanks 😃👍🇬🇧🏴 P.S, the car (automobile) was first built by Karl Benz (Mercedes Benz) in Germany Circa 1888, sorry USA the car was not started in America (north or south) as Mr Shadle Stated @ approximately 14:22. Whilst I totally respect this team I am English so my support goes to “Bloodhound”, and even though that team has had their issues, mostly financial, I am confident that they will eventually break the 1000 mph mark, if they don’t I will be really surprised. One thing that does puzzle me is that the exterior skin has a lot of non-flush rivets and fasteners, surly, and in my experience, they would get a little more speed, better aerodynamics, and fuel economy (better aerodynamics =better fuel consumption = lower fuel weight=more speed), but hat do I know, I only did 24 years in the RAF as an aircraft engineer.
cant agree more... I am here shaking my head as to why she got into that car .... it was such a hunk of shit. Saw it personally a couple of times (out at El Mirage dry lake bed) and remember thinking to myself that I would never get in that thing and go fast. Obviously she knew more about the car than any outside watcher.... but that car was not built like anything Craig Breedlove or Richard Noble drove. It was an actual Starfighter fuselage modified to have axles and wheels. Not a machine DESIGNED and BUILT to go the speed of sound on land. Jessi will be missed.
This seemed like a stupid record to risk one's life to break. If the car is solid/roadworthy enough to be piloted by a woman with slower reaction times, then it should be safe up to close to the speed of sound. I hold the designers/managers responsible for her death.
@@Melvinnn11 some of us live for the chance and not for only the number of days we have. your life can be taken at any moment. Live don't just exist... she will be remember, no disrespect like you have stated but you will never even be known.
@@iamjackalope This aircraft, knowing the history, should have been restored and put in the Smithsonian alongside the record breakers it flew chase for. As a car, the only article I found that included an account of the accident, suggested that the breaking system did not work as intended and the car left the lake bed, impacting some terrain. Must have been horrible, knowing that you just can't stop and that wall is coming up awful fast...
You will be a hero when you succeed "cause they knew you could".. and and idiot if you fail "cause its impossible". Ignore the critics. Impossible is only impossible until someone does it. Like Neil Young said. Better to burn out than to rust away.
Yes the generational thing has its differences. At least Young Chris Rock's on. Taking care of the parachutes. Darn I wish I could have helped in some way. I am only 68 years old. Keith Kuhn
I watched this after coming from the Bloodhound videos, I was going to say how different the the approaches are and how the Eagle is just an accident waiting to happen, just look at the parachute containers. I then read the comments and saw that a young lady lost her life in the machine. It is very sad. I send my best wishes to her friends and family.
What got my attention with Jessie is on power nation working on 4x4 s, and she drops to ground and was having kidney problem, and felt bad for her, god bless her.
@jaydee040 - There's a reason they didn't drive a complete F-104 down the lake bed is the learjet limo still a learjet in your mind? geekologie.com/2018/08/sure-why-not-a-limo-made-from-the-fusela.php
@@guillermo3564 lt just faded away to sorry...But it did break the sound barrier first...! Do you know what went with Blood hound 2,,,? Last l heard of it it was being build in South Africa...!
@@steveshoemaker6347 - This vehicle managed to get to 500mph but sadly was totally destroyed in the fatal crash. Current record by Thrust SSC is 763mph. Bloodhound achieved 1000kph on it’s fastest run this year.
It's people like this that make life worth living and I for one can only admire and say well I did not make any of these dreams happen,but I will be watching and,Wow they might do it.Dreams come true or it will happen soon and someone will do it.WOW life can be great.Reality is really something and Earth is real and so are dreams.WOW WOW
14:21 "This is where the automobile started". Really? I'm happy that it's helping my American cousins with their STEM education because it's not doing much for their historical knowledge. Good luck with the record, because when someone manages to take the forty year old record from the British, they may just finish the 1000 mph car that they've been sitting on for over a decade. It's not worth risking a life for a record that no one seems capable of taking from you.
The lack of protection in the cockpit is a scary thought.. i dont think this vehichle would have passed safety inspection at bonneville or any land speed record event
Exactly what I thought as well.
When you know enough to think your right, but not enough to know your wrong...
On a shoestring budget is not the way to approach a project like this. One dead, everyone else morally crippled for life.
From the first time I saw this thing it looked to me exactly what it turned out to be.
@@billmiller7138 The days of the good ol' boys are over in this field. Running a car at fighting jet speeds isn't a back-yard project. Just look at the expertise and resources behind the Bloodhound project, and even they haven't got it done yet.
As a pilot I feel mercy with this F-104, watching it with "broken wings", tied to the earth.
i agree but she did get to scream again from that poor state they found her... and now she looks awesome in that paint
Sometimes things just don't look right.
American Eagle was one example....
The North American Eagle was a death trap. No roll cage, no driver protection, just a former aircraft fuselage that was modified. Go look at any other land speed car and look at the driver compartment and look how much steel is used.
I'm not even sure that modified is the right word. Altered and compromised seem more accurate.
Sad to watch this after her passing. I can only imagine what the team is feeling, not to mention family and friends. RIP Jessi (From a fellow racer at heart)
Yes it is but the saddest part of all this is she beat her record at 531.889 mph. R.I.P. Jessi
@@catimm62
There is a way ...
To make high-speed racing safer ; read my post above .
May Jessie Combs fly at the speed of light. Thank you for your energy, smile and light. Rest In Peace.
Godspeed Jessie....:(
The problem? To save money, they used the fuselage of a F-104 Starfighter. You'd think they'd realize, using a fuselage so old would be a bad idea. Jessi Combs died in the crash.
AS A TEAM THIS ENTIRE FAMILY.... LOST 1 OF THEIR OWN,,JESSI, what a lady she inspired more youth,Men & women than we"ll EVER know. What a class act, her enthusiam and competetive desire will live forever . my deepest reguards to her friends and family.
For those who dont know: 2019 it crashed going 500 mph killing driver Jessie Combs, since then project has been abbandoned
RIP Jessi. Very, very sad that a beautiful, extremely talented, energetic, intelligent woman died so young and so horrible...😢😢
respectfully very sorry for the loss of a great wonderful person Jessi, secondly sorry to all her friends family and loved ones who were close to her, and sorry for the opportunity to obtain the world record with all of your crews hard effort over two decades of blood, sweat, and tears..GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU
His typical American Gung ho attitude killed her....
Keith zanghi,, when we worked together at Boeing in the 90's at Auburn I enjoyed your stories of speed and your quest to own the the world speed record,, I am now 79 years of age and still believe in you and your team efforts,, just wanted you to know I have not given up on you,,I drive a 430 HP mustang daily and when I get on it and the earth is passing by very rapid I think of your North American Eagle with delight,,live long and go fast my friend
If you think about death, you'll never get out of bed in the morning. I'm 58, I still ride high power sport bikes. I could die every time I ride them. I just don't give it a seconds thought. Wear the proper safety gear every time, and go enjoy it. That's life!
I love F-104's, btw. Have since I was a little boy. Always fascinated with it's appearance, the T-tail, the little teeny anhedral wings. Just an awesome airplane.
Bravo. Stumbled upon this vid. I live 50 miles north of Parkland Wa. Wahoo
Never mind Bloodhound, take a look at the painstaking way Thrust SSC was designed, wind tunnel & rocket sled tested. The forces involved in transonic & supersonic speeds on land are immense and aircraft don't have the ground interfering with airflow.
A tragic end to this project which involved a lot of well-meaning talented people but it always seemed to me to be unrealistic and foolhardy.
For example, little thought seemed to have put into driver protection. The F-104's primary pilot safety device was its ejection seat - not a practical idea in a car prone to enormous ground forces never mind if it tumbles in an accident.
RIP Jessi! A beautiful lady & a beautiful life cut short way too early!
Wow! I had no idea till now of all the violent forces at work on a run like this....Thanks for the ride!
Feel just sick about the loss of this larger then life wonderful women. R.I.P Jessi ! Best of the Best ! You are loved by so many. And my heart bleeds for her family and her loved ones.
Heard about Jessi today, I am sad. ...very sad. May she be flying with the Angels of Speed...GodSpeed Lady.
Tater Chip has Jessi been removed from the project? I would have thought that she would be a really great candidate to drive the record runs. Why would they they remove her from the project? That seems a bit mean after setting her own women's record.
Has she joined an aerial acrobatic group called Angels of Speed? I also hope she flies well with the team. I didn't know she was a pilot. I join your sentiments, godspeed Jess, and fly safe. It's probably safer than driving at supersonic speeds on land, if I'm honest.
But good luck Ed Shadle and everyone else at the North American Eagle team. Time is running out, because now Aussie invader 5r is built, and the the British LSR project has a new owner, they have less time than ever to set the new record.
@@RB747domme me
Robert Quesada do you mean she suffers with 'm e' ? That can be a really debilitating condition. I didn't know no that was the reason she was removed from the project. If that's the case, then that's really sad. That family have gone through hell in recent years, financially, losing Ed, and now Jesse suffering with illness, you wonder when they are ever going to get a break. Jeez.
@@RB747domme Jessi wasn't removed from the team. She was killed while making a test run in North American Eagle.
@@MX304 it wasn't a test run. She wanted to break her own record for the women's class, which she did.
One Mans junk, is another ones treasure.Lots of hard work will turn any piece of junk into a master piece.
"America is where the automobile started." Really? I think Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz would dispute that statement.
he hesitated when he said it, and you could see him thinking 'well it didn't, but it kinda did' and a quick image of ford's assembly line was all he could recall.
They meant first mass produced car.
Ted Smith
The very first road vehicle propelled by an engine ( in this case a steam engine ) is french . In 1770 , Nicolas Joseph Cugnot made a demonstration of his " Fardier " : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas-Joseph_Cugnot . & here on UA-cam : ua-cam.com/video/XsEbeCrPcA8/v-deo.html
American hubris trumps the facts again.
a fairly typical comment by an insular american
Heartbroken at how the whole program ended ... Rip ed and jessie ...
R.I.P. Jessi. May you travel faster still through the heavens.
Oh the arrogance. Right at the start, 0:17 - 0.25. Well, Bloodhound just finished their first actual test session yesterday with 628mph on their 11th high speed trial and 32nd run total, three weeks after rolling out of the trailer, even though they are missing the second engine. The Brits are advancing methodically, they are prepared, the vehicle is well designed, and the track is cleaned obsessively.
Exactly!!!! I never had a good feeling for the design of that vehicle. I always thought that it wasn't safe , the wheels were too small for the size of it rip Jessie 😢
@@johnalarcon5006 Richard Noble said he felt the NAE project was dangerous, you don't listen to someone who has held the record and project managed the building of LSR cars, Art Arfons said in "the fastest men on earth" book that the record was now unobtainable for people working from their garage. People with experience commented and no one listened, jessie sadly paid the price.
@@lewisb85 Exactly, only because they dont have the funding that those big firms have , those big firms have the money to access everything aerospace wind tunnel testing ect.... my brother in law used to work for " wroar" if i spelled it correctly a aerospace division of the BF Goodrich company , he did metal exact testing he use to test metals fatigue at different temperatures and pressures
@@lewisb85 besides the wingless aircraft that she wes driving had way too small wheels , im not an aerospace engineer but im thinking that had something to do with her death. Im sorry she died either way 😔
@@johnalarcon5006 Yeah Noble said about the small wheels he said about them digging into sand when running in the desert. Classic example of not listening to someone who knows better than you.
Its a pity this project never fulfilled the dreams behind it. We can only hope that someday their dreams will be met.
Excellent mini documentary.
In England we usually only have ‘Men in Sheds’ to inspire us, I guess in the US you have ‘Millionaires in Hangers’
God bless Jessi such a awesome woman who touched the lives of so many. I still remember the first time I saw her on extreme 4x4 back when I was in trade school myself i think every car enthusiast fell in love with her at first sight. Looking at this all now in hindsight the pursuit of setting a 800 mph plus land speed record utilizing a 1960s war plane and a budget of 250,000$ to try and beat a purpose built twin engine jet car that had a budget of over 3 million to build seems a bit foolish to me now. I get the temptation of the massive bragging rights of pulling it off as a underdog I’m sure every racer can relate to that but this seems like it was a recipe for disaster from day one.
I don't know if I can believe that info about this F104 being the golden chase aircraft for such legendary projects. No way the US would just toss it out in the gutter like that even if it was wrecked. Maybe it was an early fuselage at best. None the less, still a nice barn find.
Serial numbers don't lie.
I for one would love to try for 1000 plus on land. Trying and accomplishing it would be a great day for us all knowing that you were able to get there would make all the heartbreak and hard work so sweet
What a lovely bunch of fellas.
Under the Northwest Now tab at kbtc.org is a page called "Special Projects." I have posted an update to this program there. It includes cuts from an interview with Jessi that never aired. I really enjoyed getting to know the NAE team in 2016, and I've stayed in touch since - point being, I can comment directly that they are a great group of people. There are a lot of broken hearts about how this effort ended.
@22.04 he said about not destroying a perfectly good aeroplane ... he did not refer to it as a car but a plane despite it being a land speed record..... Very sad that Jesse lost her life.
Roll cages are good!!!!🏴☠️
I guess speed records will never be safe, but this kind of kitchen-table approach just wasn't up to the challenge and Jessi Combs paid the price. They were trying to run a car faster than the world record for a military jet at low altitude - maybe just too much for a group of good old boys.
The UK Bloodhound project is far more sophisticated - involving bleeding-edge university departments and high-tech companies. Now it's properly funded they had a problem-free test in South Africa, hitting their target of 600 mph in just a few days with only one of the two engines installed. Provided the data matches their models, they should be attempting the record in 2020, with a good chance of topping 1000 mph safely.
I always hoped something like instability during high speed testing would convince Ed to give it up. Alas, it took the too-high cost of Jessi Comb's young life to put an end to the project. I really think that now that the record to beat is Mach 1.1, eyeball-designed LSRs should be a thing of the past.
Look at Thrust SSC. Finite element analysis, rocket sled testing, wind tunnel testing... on one run at over 600mph, the suspension collapsed, and all Andy Green said was "Oh, dear," and he brought the car safely to rest, upright and otherwise undamaged. It was designed to be safe and stable, even when Andy entered the measured mile after a pounding sonic boom, a huge bow wave evident in the track, and Andy with his hands crossed on the steering wheel, Twice.
I logged in to let you know that you sound like kind of a bitch.
But RIP Jessi you will be missed, and you are a badass and this is what the land speed record is all about. you fuckin' did it.
Andy Green had dictated that the rear suspension be locked at the highest setting, instead of being under software control. He found out on that run why the rear suspension was dynamic, happily without killing himself. After that he gained some trust in the software engineer who had told him it was dangerous and might get him killed. But yes, the British team engineered their car from scratch. Which is why their driver is alive to brag about it.
YOU ARE 1000% spot on, the British ThrustSSC had the smartest aeronautical and F1 engineers on the planet with forensic levels of scientific development plus piloted by an RAF ace.
Compare this to the hubris North American boomer death trap powered by incompetence and hubris using a cold war relic fighter jet fuselage. WHY would any sane rational person think this hunk of junk with boomer tech development will beat the SSC?!? its no surprise it tragically killed its pilot looking at this documentary and the criminal level incompetence shown in its development.
This is almost EXACTLY the same pattern shown as with the ocean gate tragedy: hubris baby Boomer thinks hes smarter than everyone else and develops his own 'superior' contraption..
This car has been a death machine the second they put wheels on it. No land speed car should be controlled by a joystick.
Cars didn’t start in America 🇬🇧🏴
Neither Britian
@@Yeaggghurte yeah I didn’t realise that until I searched it up afterwards. And I found out that it was made in Germany 🇩🇪 by merc
@@ltgaming8022 still wrong, it wasn't by Mercedes, but buy Benz, the two didn't merge until 1926
True,just the cool ones were. 😉
Chopping the wings of a mass-produced plane is a cost-efficient way to get a jet-car. But the backward-swept wings was the things keeping the body facing straight into the oncoming air. Without them, the body needed more development for stability. They even persisted with the original tail. Dear God...
F-104's don't have swept-back wings.
@@skunkbucket9408 They have to swept back more than a certain degree to be classified, as such? (but yeah, I reckon the F-104's wings were not swept back extreme enough to make the needed difference to this car's stability, anyway)
It may not be a 1000mph car but its for sure the coolest and by far the prettiest record car that is currently hunting for records.
plane you mean, it's a plane with the wings removed, the others are cars
RIP Jessi Combs. She passed yesterday (8/27/2019) after a crash in this car.
I am surprised at the dollar amount he has in it. I thought it would be a lot more with fuel.
Perhaps it is but I was guessing about 4 million. Fuel and everything.
Keith Kuhn
I think he was referring to how much of his own money he personally had in it. They were actively recruiting sponsorships and donations so the total is likely much more than 250K.
Well an f-104 atleast has to be safer as a land speed car than it was as an aircraft.
Really well made and interesting video. I've posted a few J79 test runs from the test cell at S&S Turbines, who supplied the engine for this car.
Why, o why do Americans always, ALWAYS, make false claims. To my knowledge, the internal combustion engine originated in GERMANY not AMERICA.
AgentJayZ the first man i think of when i hear J79 then i hear S&S turbines and i high five my screen!
@@Reddbeaver Oh yeah! I thought Americans were a liquorice allsorts of Europeans!
@@Reddbeaver - The land speed record is held by Europe...
steve
This car was listed as having 5 wheels.
Fastest woman on four wheels was the record she was attempting.
I love having “hands on” over computer. They are even greater together but hands on is always greater
they definitely lived life at its fullest.
WOW Public Television actualy had a worthwhile program!!! Im a big Salt Flat Race fan, i grew up with Craig Breedlove's Spirit of
America days.
It always bothered me that North American Eagle had nothing in the way of a driver safety cell.
Excellent mini-documentary...really enjoyed it 👍
thank for sharing this material!
Very, very, very cool. Especially for us fans of the F104 Starfighter and all the pilots that flew it like Chuch Yeager and company. I just wonder how these guys get their funding!
P,R,
FYI AT 9:58 A BOLT DROPS OFF THE BOTTOM OF WHAT LOOKS LIKE THE PARACHUTE BRACKET! might wanna have a look at that...
Bloodhound just did 461 at a breeze a few days ago in its fifth warm up run. Going for five hundred this week. How’s it going?
Think it has hit 500 mph as today .
NROS2012 Crash, at the cost of a great lady.
I'm just just American, I'm a Texan. And I even know the automobile didn't start here. Maybe the first mass produced, but not the start. Mercedes and Benz was the first real automobile. And if I remember correctly that was 1896.
The very first automobile ever was french (1770) : ua-cam.com/video/84_0n84an7g/v-deo.html
At least, they tried, That`s most important.
The braking system was a part they left out. I remember something about magnets like on the spool of a fishing reel. Great team effort.
Imagine my surprise to see the name "Donald Sorlie" on the side of the car as one of the test pilots who had flown it. His son Richard was one of my best friends on board the USS Coral Sea CVA-43 in Navigation Dept in the '70's. Rich was a great guy, always fun to be around -- I wonder how much of that he picked up from his dad?
This plane was designed for straight line speed. Why no one thought of this before,only proves the builder's brilliance.
death trap. Brilliance????
Huge mistake calling it an Eagle. Eagles are meant to fly and cars are meant to stick to the deck. 'Cheetah'? 'Greyhound'? 'Roadrunner'?
I always root for the Underdog. These guys are talking about breaking the land speed record in a shoestring budget. Hope they do it.
*shoestring.
@@JBofBrisbane Yes, I messed up. Thanks for bringing that up. I've corrected it.
I'm a Briton and damned proud of my country's achievements, but I am a firm believer in garden shed wonders (any britt will know what I mean) but as I read the comments by so many know nothings on both sides of the fence my blood boils! This is an attempt by a brave man to go.... ummm rather fast (the fastest I've ever been on an mc was just over the ton, you couldnt get me to go at lunatic speeds in excess of 200mph! 800mph +?FFS try to put me in that cockpit and I'll tear your throat out with my teeth(ok..dentures..)I think this guy is made of the right stuff, and whether he makes his dream or not, good on him, most dont even try! Well Done sir, and any man with that sort of courage wil always get a sir of respect from me.
peter forden all the best things come from men in sheds.
Interesting, but I doubt it will challenge for the record with those rubber tyres on. I assume they have a plan for the wheels....?
Oh, also, automobiles didn't originate in America, but in Germany. Daimler-Benz produced what is widely recognised as the first internal-combustion powered automobile.
Very interesting story and a tremendous long term Engineering challenge...I tip my hat gentlemen. Sad to hear Jessi died in the last run. Has anyone heard any details of what happened? I can't find any video of the crash run here on youtube, nor any telemetry accounts of the run anywhere online. I do question whether or not it was prudent to have Jessi behind the wheel of an 18,000 lbf of thrust jet car with her limited experience for anything but modest run speeds, but would of course like to see the data before commenting further (a Ph.D. Engineer who works for a large American defense contractor aerospace company.
I believe she had gone over 400 mph in a previous run. There was a problem so she could not back it up with another run in the allotted time. You must make 2 runs and you get the average speed of both runs to make a record. Loved her. She will be missed.
Watch the video of one her previous runs, when it veered off track, and didn't stop until it was in the bushes. A scary preview.
@@hootowl1964 Yes, she reached a speed of 440 mph.
@@Kirovets7011 front wheel dug in the sand and basically collapsed under the pressure of digging in.
“They’re in that computer world” 😳
“They bring their parents and neighbors up here..”
The bloodhound - they were pros and they couldn’t even pull this off.
There are hands on, learn by doing people. And there are brainiac nerds.
The latter perceive all sorts of conceptual problems and potential contingencies and would never embark on this sort of project.
The former would, of course. But they will inherently be ignorant of what they don't know. And wont know it until they experience it hands on.
The people behind this project and the unfortunate lady who perished are squarely in the "hands on" category. (The S, in the Myers-Briggs personality term).
It's funny how thw S's don't like the N's, and the N's always envy the S's. But N's also know or will figure out what the S's don't know and can see those catastrophes from a decade away.
@@TheJustinJ OMG this was a year ago. I don't know what this is or wth I was talking about!
Go take it gentlemen. Even while Bloodhound lurks, 800+mph is waiting for you and that sweet American Eagle.
A great informative video well put together. It’s a shame that America doesn’t support these guys ,I feel they will break a record even for a little time, but perhaps it will attract serious sponsors to invest and ultimately reignite the America dream.
Too many speed record chasers end up dead for most governments to support them. "I gave a million dollars to a guy who killed himself with it" just isn't a great campaign slogan!
The USA has not held the Land Speed Record for many years now. But we were the first to take a car to the moon and actually filmed guys driving the thing. We hold the Moon LSR there! And we put a little car on Mars as well. No human driver but when it happens it will probably be us.
Kidding aside I commend the British for smashing and keeping the LSR here on Earth. Well done Brits.
NOBODY WENT TO THE MOON, LET ALONE A CAR.
Also first to just shoot a regular car into space just for shits and giggles, cause thats how we roll beeatches ! USA USA USA , rock on !
Saddest thing in the world. They took a car to a place not suited for it, had a neophyte LSR driver, she lost her life.
4:55 Ed says they paid $3,000 to truck if from Maine to Washington which is about 3,000 miles. The cost of operating a car is about 60 cents per mile. How can a Class 8 truck operate at $1.00 per mile?
The tie down straps/chocks they were using on the static test runs took a hell of a lot of stress, the manufacturers should use the North American Eagles in their advertising, brilliant selling point, unless like GE they don’t want any association with the project.
Excellent documentary, interesting, informative and entertaining. Thanks 😃👍🇬🇧🏴
P.S, the car (automobile) was first built by Karl Benz (Mercedes Benz) in Germany Circa 1888, sorry USA the car was not started in America (north or south) as Mr Shadle Stated @ approximately 14:22.
Whilst I totally respect this team I am English so my support goes to “Bloodhound”, and even though that team has had their issues, mostly financial, I am confident that they will eventually break the 1000 mph mark, if they don’t I will be really surprised.
One thing that does puzzle me is that the exterior skin has a lot of non-flush rivets and fasteners, surly, and in my experience, they would get a little more speed, better aerodynamics, and fuel economy (better aerodynamics =better fuel consumption = lower fuel weight=more speed), but hat do I know, I only did 24 years in the RAF as an aircraft engineer.
Rest in Peace, Jessi
Sonis was at Mont Gomery Ward store in the 60s.Loved it
14:16 'This is where the automobile started' ... ah - a spiritual truth...
I laughed at that point as well.. so sad
Painfully prescient. Such a loss in the car world and for Jessi's family.
Very sad. She was an inspiration to anyone that loved motorsports.
cant agree more... I am here shaking my head as to why she got into that car .... it was such a hunk of shit. Saw it personally a couple of times (out at El Mirage dry lake bed) and remember thinking to myself that I would never get in that thing and go fast. Obviously she knew more about the car than any outside watcher.... but that car was not built like anything Craig Breedlove or Richard Noble drove. It was an actual Starfighter fuselage modified to have axles and wheels. Not a machine DESIGNED and BUILT to go the speed of sound on land. Jessi will be missed.
@@Melvinnn11 yes indeed,
This seemed like a stupid record to risk one's life to break. If the car is solid/roadworthy enough to be piloted by a woman with slower reaction times, then it should be safe up to close to the speed of sound. I hold the designers/managers responsible for her death.
@@Melvinnn11 some of us live for the chance and not for only the number of days we have. your life can be taken at any moment. Live don't just exist... she will be remember, no disrespect like you have stated but you will never even be known.
voiturisé un avion de combat quelle idée remarquable il fallait y trouver ça vraiment incroyable!!! Bravo...
sorry for the loss of your friend and family member, GOD BLESS !!!
Just found out what happened. Very sorry to hear. God rest his soul. We need people like him.
His? HERS.
As amazing as this car is, I think I would rather have a fully restored F104. That's just me.
Same.
@@RFXCasey Did it crash?
@@iamjackalope This aircraft, knowing the history, should have been restored and put in the Smithsonian alongside the record breakers it flew chase for.
As a car, the only article I found that included an account of the accident, suggested that the breaking system did not work as intended and the car left the lake bed, impacting some terrain. Must have been horrible, knowing that you just can't stop and that wall is coming up awful fast...
Great Story!
I'm working on 800mph launch speeds out of catapults. It's coming! :-)
Good Luck Boys!!! Life is only as fun as you make it.
Mike Fifer
i can't share this video on UA-cam as of now but i will try on my cellphone . Great video and better story/history !!!!!!
You will be a hero when you succeed "cause they knew you could".. and and idiot if you fail "cause its impossible". Ignore the critics. Impossible is only impossible until someone does it. Like Neil Young said. Better to burn out than to rust away.
RIP Jessi.......
Yes the generational thing has its differences. At least Young Chris Rock's on. Taking care of the parachutes. Darn I wish I could have helped in some way.
I am only 68 years old.
Keith Kuhn
I watched this after coming from the Bloodhound videos, I was going to say how different the the approaches are and how the Eagle is just an accident waiting to happen, just look at the parachute containers. I then read the comments and saw that a young lady lost her life in the machine. It is very sad. I send my best wishes to her friends and family.
I agree, very micky mouse-ish.
True American Pride & Spirit Diligences And unwilling Determination #1 To all of you Guys and Gals
"Unwilling" determination???? I think you meant "unwavering"...
What got my attention with Jessie is on power nation working on 4x4 s, and she drops to ground and was having kidney problem, and felt bad for her, god bless her.
Appendicitis... had to have surgery too.
4:46 It should of stayed in the junk graveyard. God bless you Jessi!
She should never have trusted that car.
Sad that both Ed and Jessi are gone.
Why didn't you design a roll cage to cover the driver. The fighter jet design without a roll cage to protect the cockpit was not a good design.
looked too short should be longer like a black bird.
That is not a car. It a F104 star fighter without wings.
@jaydee040 it's a car it's just not street legal but neither is any other purpose built racecar
@jaydee040 - It still had to meet FIA regulations it became a purpose built race vehicle you may not consider it a car but the governing body did
@jaydee040 - There's a reason they didn't drive a complete F-104 down the lake bed is the learjet limo still a learjet in your mind?
geekologie.com/2018/08/sure-why-not-a-limo-made-from-the-fusela.php
this guys are the real speed demons.
Some truck driver or trucking company went in the hole hauling it across the country, permits and fuel was more than 4000 for that trip
4:56 Wow, cant imagine you can fix that!
This must be before she died.
This car or what ever you call it...Never ran for the big deal....It just faded away...!
That sucks!!!😒😒😒
@@jimmiecisco Yaa it does...!
It didn't just fade away. Do you even know what happened to the American Eagle and Jesse Combs?
@@guillermo3564 lt just faded away to sorry...But it did break the sound barrier first...! Do you know what went with Blood hound 2,,,? Last l heard of it it was being build in South Africa...!
@@steveshoemaker6347 - This vehicle managed to get to 500mph but sadly was totally destroyed in the fatal crash. Current record by Thrust SSC is 763mph. Bloodhound achieved 1000kph on it’s fastest run this year.
I think that font wheel,design did not get thought out very well and created a catastrophic event that killed Jessi.
It's people like this that make life worth living and I for one can only admire and say well I did not make any of these dreams happen,but I will be watching and,Wow they might do it.Dreams come true or it will happen soon and someone will do it.WOW life can be great.Reality is really something and Earth is real and so are dreams.WOW WOW
14:21 "This is where the automobile started". Really? I'm happy that it's helping my American cousins with their STEM education because it's not doing much for their historical knowledge.
Good luck with the record, because when someone manages to take the forty year old record from the British, they may just finish the 1000 mph car that they've been sitting on for over a decade.
It's not worth risking a life for a record that no one seems capable of taking from you.