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Craig Breedlove (born March 23, 1937) is an American professional race car driver and a five-time world land speed record holder. He was the first person in history to reach , and , using several turbojet-powered vehicles, all named ''Spirit of America''. ==Land vehicle speed records== In 1962, he made his first attempt, in a freewheeling tricycle (ignoring FIA rules requiring four wheels, at least two driven; in the event, FIM happily accepted it)〔 powered by a General Electric J47 turbojet engine.〔 On August 5, 1963, this first ''Spirit'' made her first record attempt, using just 90% of available thrust to reach over the measured mile.〔 The return pass, on 95% power,〔 turned up a two-way average of .〔 ''Spirit of America'' was so light on the ground, she did not even need to change tires afterward.〔 For 1964, Breedlove faced competition from Walt Arfons' ''Wingfoot Express'' (piloted by Tom Green),〔 as well as from brother Art in his four-wheel FIA-legal ''Green Monster''.〔 With more engine power, Breedlove upped the record to "()ith almost insolent ease",〔 then to .〔 making him the first man to exceed .〔 This pass was not without incident, however, for one of his drogue parachute's shroud lines parted, and ''Spirit of America'' ran on for before hitting a telegraph pole and coming to rest in a lake.〔 This record stood all of twelve days before ''Green Monster'' broke it, recording a two-run average of .〔 In response, Breedlove built an FIA-legal four-wheeler, ''Sonic I'', powered by a J79 turbojet.〔 November 2, 1965, Breedlove entered the FIA record book with a two-run average of .〔 This lasted even less time than before, for ''Green Monster'' came back five days later at .〔 On November 15, Breedlove responded with a record (after turning in an amazing return pass),〔 which held until 1970.〔 (It would be broken by Gary Gabelich's ''Blue Flame'', which reached .)〔 To take the record back, Breedlove planned a supersonic rocket car, "complete with ejector seat."〔 Also in 1965, Breedlove's wife, Lee Breedlove, took the seat in ''Sonic 1'', making four passes and achieving ,〔 making her the fastest woman alive, and making them the fastest couple, which they remain.〔 According to author Rachel Kushner, Craig had talked Lee into taking the car out for a record attempt in order to monopolize the salt flats for the day and block one of his competitors from making a record attempt. During 1968, Lynn Garrison, President of Craig Breedlove & Associates started to package a deal that saw Utah's Governor, Calvin Rampton provide a hangar facility for the construction of a supersonic car. Bill Lear, of Learjet fame, was to provide support, along with his friend Art Linkletter. ''Playboy'' magazine hoped to have the car painted black, with a white bunny on the rudder. TRW was supplying a lunar lander rocket motor. A change in public interest saw the concept shelved for a period of time. They also negotiated for the use of the late Donald Campbell's wheel-driven ''Bluebird CN7'' record-breaker. After a lengthy break from world records and making his name as a real estate agent, Breedlove began work on a new Spirit in 1992, eventually named ''Spirit of America Formula Shell LSRV''. The vehicle is 44 ft 10 in long, 8 ft 4 in wide, and 5 ft 10 in high (13.67 m by 2.54 m by 1.78 m) and weighs 9,000 lb (4,100 kg), construction is on a steel tube or space frame with an aluminium skin body. The engine is the same as in the second Spirit, a J79, but it is modified to burn unleaded gasoline and generates a maximum thrust of 22,650 lbf (100.75 kN). The first run of the vehicle on October 28, 1996 in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada ended in a crash at around . Returning in 1997, the vehicle badly damaged the engine on an early run and when the British ThrustSSC managed over , the re-engined Spirit could do no better than . Breedlove believes the vehicle is capable of exceeding , but has yet to demonstrate this. In late 2006, Breedlove sold the car to Steve Fossett, who was to make an attempt on the land speed record in 2007. Fossett died in a plane crash in 2007, and the car was put up for sale. Breedlove's vehicle, renamed the "Sonic Arrow", was rolled out on the Black Rock Desert for a photo opportunity on October 15, 2007. The effort to run the car continues. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Craig Breedlove」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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