Andy Green |
(1962 - ) Wing Commander Andy D. Green OBE BA RAF (born 1962) is a British Royal Air Force pilot and World Land Speed Record holder. RAF careerGreen was educated at St Olave's Grammar School 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. Speed recordsSupersonicAndy Green is the current holder of the World Land speed record, 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 shatter the 1,000 mph mark with Bloodhound SSC. Road carHis next land speed attempt was for MG in a specially modified MG F 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 powerSince then, Andy Green's most recent challenge was the driving of the JCB Dieselmax car, attempting to take the Diesel Land Speed Record over 300 mph (480 km/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. 24 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 awardsHe was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire 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.
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