A Royal New Zealand Air Force Sergeant has broken the New Zealand land speed record today driving a jet-powered dragster.
Sergeant Dean Hart reached an average speed of 363.436 km/h at RNZAF Base Ohakea, beating the previous record of 355.485km/h.
During the run Sergeant Hart reached a top speed of 458.2 km/h.
This was the first time Sergeant Hart, an avionics technician at RNZAF Base Auckland, had attempted the record and he said the drive was more difficult than the test runs.
“The car was wavering a little bit, there’s not a lot of wind today but the car was moving around a lot more than in the test runs,” he said.
The record-breaking car is powered by a Rolls Royce Viper 535 engine from a BAC Strikemaster aircraft, which runs on aviation jet fuel.
The car has been built by Sergeant Hart and other members of RNZAF technical trades at Whenuapai Motorsports Club over the past 10 years, using mostly second-hand parts.
“The chassis is 30 years old, the motor is 60 years old, it was a slow process of piecing it together,” Sergeant Hart said.
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