Thrust SSC - Media Zone

ThrustSSC - A Triumph of Logistics

When the titanium sheet metal was delivered to the ThrustSSC headquarters at Q Shed, DRA Farnborough, the supplier had sent double the number of sheets at half the size, instead of half the number of sheets at twice the size that were required to finish off the temperature-sensitive rear-end panelling on the Castrol-sponsored jetcar which will shortly begin its build-up to the world's first supersonic attack on the land speed record.

It was just another of those problems that indefatigable Engineering Manager Peter Ross has learned to take in his long stride. This sort of thing happens frequently in the record breaking game. It was a simple mistake, irksome but quickly overcome.

Ross, 35-years-old on the day that Thrust SSC was due to be rolled out of the workshop for its first proper trial, typifies the calibre of men attracted to the most dramatic automotive project of the century. An RAF aerospace engineer planning to use the project as the basis of his second year HNC studies, he simply pestered instigator Richard Noble and Chief Aerodynamicist Ron Ayers, and, in time-honoured fashion, wound up working for them full-time. "I started to do a project myself on SSC," he recalls, "And I got more and more involved. And the more I got involved, the more I wanted to be."

"Initially I was working part-time on the car down at G Force's premises at Fontwell, before I was offered the full-time position when we transferred to Q Shed. No-one had any idea of what parts we had on the car and what we needed, so I started doing that, working out the centre of gravity and the weight of the vehicle, and it just progressed from there. I took on more and was given more. I essentially became Engineering Manager when we moved up here, looking after the day-to-day running of the project, keeping an eye on the build, the guys in the team, the hangar, material sponsors, and all the rest of it. When we actually run the car my position will be to make sure that everything is where it should be and happens when it should."

His greatest asset soon became apparent to his colleagues. "The original team members thought I was very good at taking on an awful lot without getting too worried about it. And I can take on several different things at a time without getting confused by it. As progress chaser, if we have anything particularly outstanding I have to find out where it is and why it isn’t here, and make sure that it gets here on time and gets here right." Such as the wrong sheet metal panels.

Ask Ross to define the toughest part so far, and he stalls momentarily. "That's a very, very difficult question to answer, really. It's tough, but it's all enjoyable, so you don't really regard it as difficult. I suppose trying to overcome the initial personal differences with the team."

In such a project they are inevitable, since it is an amalgamation of some highly intelligent and individual people. Very often such phases are an intrinsic part of forging strong and lasting working relationships that can survive when the going gets really tough.

Thrust SSC has grown into a remarkable operation, working almost as a co-operative, with all key team members making valuable contributions.

Ross agrees, but adds: "I think even within a team you still have to have people who, number one, will take the responsibility, and, number two, make the decisions." Outside the design team, he and electronics wizard Jeremy Bliss identify and plan the job lists and then involve everyone else in full discussion of their respective roles.

"Jeremy looks after the electronic side and the systems that he has designed, and I look after the mechanical engineering side," Ross continues. "I see myself as the conductor in an orchestra. I don't write the music, I don't play the music. I near what the writers want and relay it to the orchestra. And hopefully if I get it right and they get it right. we end up with a symphony. That's the best way I can think of describing it, because my background really is in music and art. I really don't know why I went into engineering!"

Ross has written the servicing maintenance schedule for Thrust SSC when it goes to the Al Jafr Desert in Jordan shortly to commence trials for its record attempt, and appears to be growing into the role of operations manager too.

Trained in the aircraft engine trade, he adds: "I know just about every single part on that car, We have also done a turnaround schedule, a pre-run schedule and an emergency abort if things go a bit haywire. And we have sorted out people for the various teams, based on how well they work together."

Bliss chuckles. "There is always going to be friction because it really is a loose collection of egomaniacs. There's nobody working on this car that doesn't think they are wonderful. They wouldn’t do it if they didn't feel that. Many of the team members are in their 30s and have been in whatever field they are in for at least 10 years. There are a lot of civilians who've been working on this project for a long time, and some of the RAF guys have only been in for a month or so and they've still got to find their feet. They are all working together and they are doing their jobs, and they are doing them very well. And the one thing they hate is having their professionalism doubted. They won't have that, and it just makes them work harder"

Though there is no chief engineer as such, and everyone operates in their own autonomous environment, Ross and Bliss tend to prioritise the job list and Bliss has carved a reputation as the planner extraordinaire, while Ross is the man who can railroad a way through supply problems, each of the men working on Thrust 5$C is invited to add his own suggestions to the lists, and so the system runs. There is always consultation, and that has proved vital.

"Nobody sits in an ivory tower," stresses Bliss. "You can't do it like that. The best person to ask about a particular task is the guy who is doing that job, because these are the people with a lot of experience. They know how long it's going to take. And then all we end up dealing with are the things we have no control over."

Richard Noble is convinced he has hit upon something special. "It's amazing," he enthuses, "We don't have what you might call a John Ackroyd figure, like we did the way we ran the Thrust 2 project. This is perfect teamwork, with everybody working together and having their say. It really is a most extraordinary situation, and it's working very well. Three men putting their heads together can work much faster than one man. I really do think that this is a key element in the huge amount of progress that we have made so far."



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