Faster than a speeding Boeing

CargoLogicAir is to help the Bloodhound Project in its quest to break the land speed record and to break the 1,000mph barrier. The new British freighter operator has signed a memorandum of understanding as the exclusive air cargo partner for the attempt to set a new world land speed record in South Africa in 2017, and then to break the 1,000mph barrier in 2018.
CargoLogicAir will fly the Bloodhound supersonic car (SSC) from its UK base to and from the Hakskeenpan dried lake bed in South Africa’s Northern Cape. The flights to Upington Airport will also carry support equipment, and the airline will provide a resupply and returns service for parts and equipment.
The Bloodhound team, led by project director, Richard Noble and driver, Andy Green OBE, hopes to set a new world land speed record of 800mph next year before returning to South Africa in 2018 to try for the 1,000mph target.
Andy Green already holds the current record of achieved in the ThrustSSC – 763.035mph – almost 200mph faster than CargoLogicAir’s new Boeing 747-8 freighter.
Noble and Green attended the Farnborough International Air Show on 11 July to tour CargoLogicAir’s new Boeing 747-8 aircraft and give a progress update.
CargoLogicAir’s partner airline Volga-Dnepr Group saved the day for a previous record by the ThrustSSC in 1997. With the weather window for the attempt quickly disappearing and several weeks required to move ThrustSSC and its support equipment to the U.S. by sea and land, the airline stepped in and helped the team transport everything from the UK to the US within 24 hours on board its Antonov 124-100 (maximum speed 512mph).
CargoLogicAir chief executive Dmitry Grishin, said: “What better way to alert people to the fact that there is a new British all-cargo airline than to support such an exciting and entrepreneurial project as Bloodhound. What excites us is not only the skills and commitment of the team but, more specifically, that the project has such a strong educational ethos that aims to inspire a new generation of young people to start a career in science and engineering.”
Richard Noble added: “In 1997 …thanks to Volga-Dnepr Group, the car and team arrived without a scratch and we realised this was the only way to move the Team. In September 2017 we’re taking Bloodhound SSC to South Africa and we’re delighted that CargoLogicAir are supporting the transportation. It means we can fly the Project direct from the UK to Upington in South Africa, just a short 120-mile drive to the desert.”
Based at London Stansted Airport, CargoLogicAir received its UK Air Operator Certificate in early 2016 and started operations with a 747-400 freighter. The airline expects to grow its fleet to five aircraft in five years.