Spirit of America |
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Spirit of America is the trademarked name used by Craig Breedlove for his land speed record-setting vehicles. The Spirit of America was the first of the modern record breaking cars, build within new rules with its three wheel design, narrow stream-lined shape and most significantly turbojet engine. Like most of the other competing vehicles the engine was ex-military, the first Spirit had a GE J47 engine from a F-86 Sabre and was tested at Bonneville Salt Flats in 1962, where difficult handling resulted in failure. Before trying again a new stablizer was added and a steerable front wheel. He set his first record on September 5, 1963 at Bonneville, the first man to exceed 400 mph After setting the record it was broken in October 1964 by Tom Green and further extended by Art Arfons. Breedlove returned to Bonneville with Spirit and pushed the record over 500 mph, setting it at 526.277 mph on October 15, a record that stood for almost two weeks. In setting the new record, at the end of his second run, the Spirit lost its parachute brakes, skidded for five miles, through a row of telephone poles and crashed into a brine pond at around 200 mph, Breedlove was uninjured. The Spirit was recovered and taken by the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago as an exhibit. External link |
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