'No wages, constant heat, tough work': Call for volunteers to clear 250 million square feet of racetrack ahead of 1000mph land speed record attempt



Labourers will be paid nothing and will find themselves working in back-breaking conditions under the blazing African sun for hours on end.



But the British backers of the bid to break the land speed record expect that volunteers will flock to help them by giving up their time to clear the track of stones.



The Bloodhound Project aims to become the world’s first 1,000mph land speed record attempt in 2012 but first needs every inch of the track cleared of stones – by hand - over an area of 250 million square feet in a desert in South Africa.



Hard work: Local volunteers begin clearing the Hakskeenpan racetrack under the baking sun in November

The team estimate that the team can clear 150 square metres per hour per labourer, where the stone coverage is light

An advert for volunteers, placed in today’s Times, reads: 'People wanted to clear desert track for 1,000 mph racing car. No wages, constant heat, tough work in beautiful but remote Hakskeen Pan, Northern Cape, South Africa. Scorpions may be present. Inspiring next generation of engineers the reward.'



It deliberately recalls the most famous job recruitment ad of all time, supposedly placed by Polar explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1912 or 13:



It is believed to have read: ‘Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.'

Bloodhound director Richard Noble , who held the land speed record between 1983 and 1997, said this morning: 'The volunteers have got to support themselves, but the cost of living out there is not great. It's an opportunity to be a part of an extraordinary experience.'

The Bloodhound car is expected to hit 1000mph on its world record attempt in 2012

The Bloodhound SSC (Supersonic car) will be powered by a jet engine from Eurofighter Typhoon being positioned above a hybrid rocket. This combination should produce 135,000 horsepower — equivalent to the power of 180 Formula One cars.



It will cover the measured mile in just 3.5 seconds and its top speed of 1050mph is faster than a bullet from a .357 Magnum handgun.

A map showing where the stones are along the track

Attempts to smash the land speed record by more than 200mph will begin with runs on a flat, dried-up lake bed at Hakskeen Pan in South Africa's Northern Cape Province in 2011.



Clearing the track is a crucial part of the record attampe as a stone flung up by the front wheels at this speed could punch a hole in the car’s thin alloy bodywork or severely damage one of its four solid aluminum wheels.



The team has recently conducted tests at the Cavendish Laboratories, Cambridge, with wheel design partner, Lockheed Martin, where sections of stone from Hakskeen Pan were fired into samples of aluminum at 1,000 mph. These samples are now being analyzed to see what effect such impacts might have on the wheels in the desert



Volunteers will need to check an area 20km x 1.5km in temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius.



The team expect it to will take over 120 days to prepare the racetrack in the world before the record attempt can take place.

The car will be driven by Wing Commander Andy Green, who holds the current record speed of 763mph after achieving it in Thrust SSC in 1997.

It is designed to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by highlighting the feats Britons can achieve.

About 25,000 schools are taking part in the programme. The project also has an internet following and during the time trial a live video will be streamed from the cockpit.

The car has gone through ten design evolutions since work started on it and the building will now commence at a site in Bristol Docklands.

The hybrid rocket, involving a conventional rocket and a separate engine to pump fuel, is the largest ever designed in the UK - weighing 400kg and being 14ft long.



He will lie feet-first in the car and as it accelerates to 1,050mph in 40 seconds he will experience a force of 2.5G, or about twice his body weight.

As he decelerates, experiencing forces of up to 3G, the blood will drain from his head to his feet and he could black out.

He will prepare for the trial by flying upside down in a stunt aircraft.

'A huge advantage is that I’ve got 20 years’ experience of flying fast jets,' he said.

The car bears a resemblance to the Bluebird in which Sir Malcolm Campbell and his nephew Donald Campbell set numerous land and water speed records throughout the 20th century.

However, the pursuit of speed cost Donald his life when he crashed on Coniston Water trying to beat the water speed record in 1967.

The car’s pencil-shaped shell is made from forged aerospace-grade aluminium.

The first prototype rocket has already been successfully fired in California's Mojave desert.