Andy Green
Encyclopedia
Wing Commander
Andy D. Green OBE
BA RAF (born 30 July 1962) is a British
Royal Air Force
pilot and World Land Speed Record
holder.
and then gained an RAF scholarship to Worcester College, Oxford
, where he graduated in 1983 with first class honours in mathematics
. He qualified as a fighter pilot
on F-4 Phantom and Tornado F3 aircraft, and later became Officer Commanding
Operations Wing at RAF Wittering
. Andy Green is also the captain of the RAF team at the Cresta Run
, where he uses an experimental French toboggan.
, and the first person to break the sound barrier
on land. On 25 September 1997 in ThrustSSC
he beat the previous record in Black Rock Desert
, USA
, reaching a speed of 714.144 mph (1149.30 km/h). On October 15, 1997, exactly 50 years and 1 day after the sound barrier was broken in aerial flight by Chuck Yeager
, Andy Green reached 763.035 mph (1227.99 km/h), the first supersonic
record (Mach
1.016). His call sign
was "Dead Dog".
Andy is now working with Richard Noble
again on their new record attempt to break the 1,000 mph mark with Bloodhound SSC
.
called the MG EX255, however, due to the time required for modifications, the project did not finish on time and that attempt never happened.
car, attempting to take the Diesel Land Speed Record
over 300 mi/h. Having trialled the vehicle on his own RAF base, Wittering, on 22 August 2006, he broke the previous record of 236 mph (380 km/h) (set in August 1973), after attaining an average speed of 328.767 mph (529 km/h) during two runs on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
. Twenty four hours later, Andy Green broke his own record, achieving a speed of 350.092 mph (563.418 km/h) on 23 August 2006.
in the 1997 New Year's Honours List. He was awarded the Segrave Trophy by the Royal Automobile Club
in 1997. In 2006 he was awarded the John Cobb Trophy by the British Racing Drivers' Club
for "a success of outstanding character" and an Honorary degree from Staffordshire University, July 2008.
project, by participating in Round 4 of the Elise Trophy at Snetterton
.
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
Andy D. Green OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
BA RAF (born 30 July 1962) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
pilot and World Land Speed Record
Land speed record
The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...
holder.
RAF career
Green was educated at St Olave's Grammar SchoolSt Olave's Grammar School
St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar School is a super-selective boys' secondary school in Orpington, Greater London, England. The school is consistently one of the top achieving state schools in the UK and it was The Sunday Times State School of the Year in 2008...
and then gained an RAF scholarship to Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
, where he graduated in 1983 with first class honours in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. He qualified as a fighter pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
on F-4 Phantom and Tornado F3 aircraft, and later became Officer Commanding
Officer Commanding
The Officer Commanding is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit , principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, the term Commanding Officer is applied to commanders of minor as well as major units.Normally an Officer Commanding is a company, squadron or battery...
Operations Wing at RAF Wittering
RAF Wittering
RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire is the nearest town, the runways of RAF Wittering cross the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire....
. Andy Green is also the captain of the RAF team at the Cresta Run
Cresta Run
The Cresta Run is a natural ice 1,212.5 m long skeleton racing toboggan track in the Swiss winter sports town of St. Moritz, and one of the few runs dedicated primarily to skeleton. It was built in 1884 near the hamlet of Cresta in the municipality of Celerina/Schlarigna by Major Bulpett, eventual...
, where he uses an experimental French toboggan.
Supersonic
Andy Green is the current holder of the World Land speed recordLand speed record
The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...
, and the first person to break the sound barrier
Sound barrier
The sound barrier, in aerodynamics, is the point at which an aircraft moves from transonic to supersonic speed. The term, which occasionally has other meanings, came into use during World War II, when a number of aircraft started to encounter the effects of compressibility, a collection of several...
on land. On 25 September 1997 in ThrustSSC
ThrustSSC
ThrustSSC, also spelt Thrust SSC by secondary sources, is a British jet-propelled car developed by Richard Noble, Glynne Bowsher, Ron Ayers and Jeremy Bliss....
he beat the previous record in Black Rock Desert
Black Rock Desert
The Black Rock Desert is an arid region in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, reaching a speed of 714.144 mph (1149.30 km/h). On October 15, 1997, exactly 50 years and 1 day after the sound barrier was broken in aerial flight by Chuck Yeager
Chuck Yeager
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
, Andy Green reached 763.035 mph (1227.99 km/h), the first supersonic
Supersonic
Supersonic speed is a rate of travel of an object that exceeds the speed of sound . For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C this speed is approximately 343 m/s, 1,125 ft/s, 768 mph or 1,235 km/h. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound are often...
record (Mach
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
1.016). His call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
was "Dead Dog".
Andy is now working with Richard Noble
Richard Noble
Richard Noble, OBE was the holder of the land speed record between 1983 and 1997, and was the project director of ThrustSSC, the vehicle which holds the current land speed record, set at Black Rock Desert, Nevada in 1997....
again on their new record attempt to break the 1,000 mph mark with Bloodhound SSC
Bloodhound SSC
Bloodhound SSC is the name of a project aiming to break the land speed record with a pencil-shaped car powered by a jet engine and a rocket designed to reach approximately...
.
Road car
His next land speed attempt was for MG in a specially modified MG FMG F
The MG F and later the MG TF are mid-engined, rear wheel drive roadster cars produced from 1995 onwards. The MG F was the first all-new car to bear the MG marque since the MG MGB, produced from 1962 to 1980...
called the MG EX255, however, due to the time required for modifications, the project did not finish on time and that attempt never happened.
Diesel power
Since then, Andy Green's most recent challenge was the driving of the JCB DieselmaxJCB Dieselmax
The JCB Dieselmax is a diesel-engined 'Streamliner' car designed for the purpose of breaking the land speed record for a diesel-engined vehicle.The car was built for JCB...
car, attempting to take the Diesel Land Speed Record
Land speed record
The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...
over 300 mi/h. Having trialled the vehicle on his own RAF base, Wittering, on 22 August 2006, he broke the previous record of 236 mph (380 km/h) (set in August 1973), after attaining an average speed of 328.767 mph (529 km/h) during two runs on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. Twenty four hours later, Andy Green broke his own record, achieving a speed of 350.092 mph (563.418 km/h) on 23 August 2006.
Honours and awards
He was created an Officer of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the 1997 New Year's Honours List. He was awarded the Segrave Trophy by the Royal Automobile Club
Royal Automobile Club
The Royal Automobile Club is a private club and is not to be confused with RAC plc, a motorists' organisation, which it formerly owned.It has two club houses, one in London at 89-91 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, Surrey, next to the City of London Freemen's School...
in 1997. In 2006 he was awarded the John Cobb Trophy by the British Racing Drivers' Club
British Racing Drivers' Club
The British Racing Drivers' Club is a membership body which represents the interests of professional racing drivers from the United Kingdom.-Early days:...
for "a success of outstanding character" and an Honorary degree from Staffordshire University, July 2008.
Racing experience
On the 14 June 2009 Andy gained his first ever circuit racing experience, whilst raising money for the Bloodhound SSCBloodhound SSC
Bloodhound SSC is the name of a project aiming to break the land speed record with a pencil-shaped car powered by a jet engine and a rocket designed to reach approximately...
project, by participating in Round 4 of the Elise Trophy at Snetterton
Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit
Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Norfolk, England. Owned by MotorSport Vision, it is situated on the A11 road some 20 km north-east of the town of Thetford and 30 km south-west of the city of Norwich...
.
See also
- List of vehicle speed records
- ThrustSSCThrustSSCThrustSSC, also spelt Thrust SSC by secondary sources, is a British jet-propelled car developed by Richard Noble, Glynne Bowsher, Ron Ayers and Jeremy Bliss....
- JCB DieselmaxJCB DieselmaxThe JCB Dieselmax is a diesel-engined 'Streamliner' car designed for the purpose of breaking the land speed record for a diesel-engined vehicle.The car was built for JCB...
- Bloodhound SSCBloodhound SSCBloodhound SSC is the name of a project aiming to break the land speed record with a pencil-shaped car powered by a jet engine and a rocket designed to reach approximately...