Craig Breedlove, First to Drive 500, 600 MPH, Dies at 86

[Bob Riebe]

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/more-racing/a43521840/craig-breedlove-first-to-drive-500-600-mph-dies-at-86/

[Ranger99]

I don't remember him so much
for the salt flats as much as the
endurance record he set at the
test facility in west Texas.
I used to hunt near where it's at.
Big place.
He was also ( IIRC) kind of a
spokesman for champion spark
plugs and the AMC muscle cars
of the day
The salt flats car I remember the
most was the Blue Flame which
was a hydrogen peroxide/gas/
something-something car that
broke a land speed record in either
the late 60's or early 70's.
It was the happening thing
at the time. I can't remember the
driver for the life of me.
It was pretty controversial because
of the threat to petroleum fueled
IC vehicles, and many didn't like
it at all.  The europeans had more
interest ( it seemed like) than
Americans did.

[ironglow]

I recall Craig Breedlove, he was big news back in the 50s and 60s. we are of the same age.

[darkgael]

I remember an interview with Breedlove right after he had set the land speed record back in 1963 (407.45 mph). The reporter jokingly asked him “how slow will it go?” Breedlove answered “Well…it idles at 147 mph.”

[Bob Riebe]

Blue Flame is a rocket-powered land speed racing vehicle that was driven by Gary Gabelich and achieved a world land speed record on Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on October 23, 1970. The vehicle set the FIA world record for the flying mile at 622.407 mph (1,001.667 km/h) and the flying kilometer at 630.388 mph (1,014.511 km/h).[1] Blue Flame's world records have since been broken.
Design and construction

Blue Flame was constructed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Reaction Dynamics, a company formed by Pete Farnsworth, Ray Dausman and Dick Keller, who had developed the first hydrogen peroxide rocket dragster,[2] called the X-1 and driven by Chuck Suba.[3] The car used a combination of high-test peroxide and liquified natural gas (LNG), pressurized by helium gas.[4] The effort was sponsored by the American Gas Association, with technical assistance from the Institute of Gas Technology of Des Plaines, IL.

The engine was designed by Reaction Dynamics and some of the components were manufactured by Galaxy Manufacturing of Tonawanda, New York.[citation needed]

Blue Flame's engine is a regeneratively cooled variable thrust liquid-propellent engine. It can operate on either a single- or dual-propellant basis. In operation, it permits natural gas use as a liquid, gas, or both with a two-stage combustion start. The oxidizer flow is established first, then LNG enters a heat exchanger where it vaporizes and is brought to combustion temperature. The gas is then injected into the combustion chamber with the oxygen provided by the hydrogen peroxide. A stable flame front is established and the remaining liquified natural gas (LNG) is injected to bring the engine to full power.

Oddly the car is in a museum in Germany.
To me it seems lke maybe ten years ago  but in reality, it was 27 years ago that Breedlove and Richard Noble had a brief competition for the land speed record.
Such men are now very few and far between, though a woman not that long ago died trying to set the record.

[Bob Riebe]