Rosco McGlashan
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Rosco McGlashan (born 1950)[1] OAM is an Australian drag racing record-holder, who currently holds the Australian land speed record at 500 mph (802.6 km/h).[2] This record was set on the 27 March 1994 on the dry salt flats of Lake Gairdner, South Australia, 440 km (270 mi) northwest of Adelaide.
Aussie Invader II[edit]
McGlashan attempted to set the record in his jet-powered car, Aussie Invader II. The car was powered by a 36,000 hp Atar jet engine from a Mirage jet fighter aeroplane. In February 1995 Rosco and his team headed back to Lake Gairdner for an assault at the 633.468 mph (1,013.55 km/h) world land speed record, held by Richard Noble. This attempt was not a success, due to poor salt conditions, the course being very wet in places. McGlashan ran off course and hit the metal timing equipment at 960 km/h (600 mph). McGlashan walked away but the car was destroyed.
Aussie Invader III[edit]
McGlashan then built his next car Aussie Invader III. With this car McGlashan hoped to challenge Andy Green and Craig Breedlove to be the first to Mach 1 on land, but again the salt conditions were too bad for high speed record runs. On 15 October 1997, Andy Green reached 763.035 miles per hour (1,227.986 km/h), the first supersonic record (Mach 1.016). In 2012, McGlashan sold the Aussie Invader III in order to raise money for the Aussie Invader 5R.[3]
Aussie Invader 5R[edit]
Needing a vehicle with more power, McGlashan has announced[when?] that he has designed a new car, the Aussie Invader 5R. This car will be rocket-powered and is designed for speed greater than 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 km/h). The rocket car will be his biggest and most powerful yet at 16 m (52 ft) in length and 3 metres (10 ft) high at the tailfin.[citation needed]
Construction on the car was started in 2009, and work on building Aussie Invader 5R is now[when?] in full swing, with preliminary planning and design work having taken a decade before the build could start.
The car has recently[when?] appeared at two Perth based motor shows after completion of phase 1 of the build (car rolling and systems in place). Phase 2 has started with further rocket motors and propellants being tested and then a smaller version of the selected engine design being constructed. Once this has passed the testing phase, then work will start on the full size motor (62,000 lb/f; 200,000 hp). This should propel the car from 0–1000 mph in around 20 seconds, burning about 3 tonnes of propellant over the full 1,000 mph run.
McGlashan also drove a rocket-powered go-kart to 253 miles per hour (407 km/h) in 1980—it is still the go-kart record to this day.[4][5][6] However, despite the evidence, this record is not recognized by Guinness, which has the record listed at 114.59 mph (184.41 kpm), less than half the speed of McGlashan's record.[7]
See also[edit]
- List of vehicle speed records
- ThrustSSC Current record holder since 1997
- North American Eagle Project aiming for 808 mph (1,300 km/h)
- Bloodhound SSC aiming for 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h)
References[edit]
- ^ "The Driver-Rosco McGlashan", aussieinvader, Retrieved 3 June 2010
- ^ "Fastest Aussie on earth, Rosco McGlashan - interview", www.whichcar.com.au, Retrieved 7 December 2018
- ^ "Rosco McGlashan selling Aussie Invader III", www.perthnow.com.au, Retrieved 7 December 2018
- ^ "Fastest Aussie on earth, Rosco McGlashan - interview". WhichCar. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ "Past Machines – Aussie Invader – World Land Speed Record Challenger". Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ "Rosco McGlashan - Land Speed Racing History". www.gregwapling.com. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ "Fastest speed in a jet-propelled go-kart". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
