pete_c
Guru
Just a random post here bringing back some memories as my folks took us kids to the Museum of Science and Industry almost weekly in the 1960's and recall visiting this automobile just about every time we went.
The first Spirit of America
The Spirit of America was the first of the modern record breaking jet-propelled cars, built with a narrow streamlined fuselage, three wheel chassis, and most significantly, turbojet engine. Like most of the other competing vehicles the engine was ex-military, the first Spirit had a General Electric J47 engine from an F-86 Sabre
and was tested at Bonneville Salt Flats in 1962, where difficult handling resulted in failure. Before trying again, a new stabilizer and steerable front wheel were added.
Breedlove set his first record on September 5, 1963 at Bonneville, the first man to set an average speed of over 400 mph (640 km/h) during a land speed record.
At the time of Spirit of America's construction the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) rules for a land speed record required a four wheel chassis. Spirit's record was thus not recognised as an official record by the FIA. The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) did recognise it however, classing Spirit as a three-wheeler motorcycle. Although this controversy has been widely reported since as being due to the use of a jet engine, the FIA rules describing a qualifying car as being "driven through its wheels", the only issue raised seriously at the time was over the number of wheels, hence the FIM acceptance.
For a period there were thus two simultaneous land speed records, the 1947 Railton Mobil Special record remaining as the FIA four-wheel Class A record, which from July 1964 went to Campbell's Bluebird. Although Bluebird also used a "jet engine", it was a turboshaft that drove the wheels.
Both FIA & FIM records were broken in October 1964 by Tom Green and further extended by Art Arfons. Breedlove returned to Bonneville with Spirit and pushed the record over 500 mph (800 km/h), setting it at 526.277 mph (846.961 km/h) on October 15, a record that stood for almost two weeks. In setting the new record, at the end of his second run, the Spirit lost its parachute brakes, skidded for five miles (8 km), through a row of telephone poles and crashed into a brine pond at around 200 mph (320 km/h). Drenched but uninjured, Breedlove climbed out of the cockpit and declared "And now for my next act I'm going to set myself on fire."[2] This feat earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for longest skid marks. Spirit was recovered and taken to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago as an exhibit.
Spirit of America - Sonic 1
A new Spirit was built over 1964-65 to attempt to beat Arfons, dubbed Spirit of America - Sonic I a four-wheel design with a much higher rated GE J79 engine originally from an F-4 Phantom II, the same type as that used by Arfons' Green Monster.
Another tit-for-tat with Arfons ended with Breedlove setting the record at 600.601 mph (966.574 km/h) on November 15, 1965, a record that stood until 1970, broken by Gary Gabelich's The Blue Flame land speed record rocket car. The Sonic I vehicle is currently on display at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
lawsuit over condition of historic jet car loaned to Museum of Science & Industry
Jonathan Bilyk Jan. 23, 2017, 10:58pm
Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry and legendary driver Craig Breedlove have reached an agreement to end their legal dispute over the condition of the historic jet-propelled car in which Breedlove set two land speed records in the 1960s.
On Jan. 23, the museum and Breedlove issued a joint statement confirming they had reached the deal to end Breedlove’s lawsuit against MSI for the museum’s alleged mistreatment of the car, dubbed the Spirit of America.
The statement said the settlement terms were confidential.
“Breedlove drove the racecar in 1963 when he recaptured the world land-speed record for the United States,” said the museum and Breedlove in the prepared statement. “For more than 50 years, millions of museum visitors were able to get an up-close view of the racecar.
“The confidential agreement fully resolves a lawsuit brought against the museum regarding the condition of the car.”
The case landed in Chicago federal court in June 2016, when Breedlove, a five-time holder of world land speed records and the first man to drive a car 600 miles per hour, sued MSI, alleging the museum failed to properly care for and protect the Spirit of America.
Breedlove, of California, had provided the car to MSI in 1965 for an exhibit. The car had crashed in 1964, but was repaired and cleaned, though not restored to driving condition, for the exhibit.
According to Breedlove’s complaint, the oral agreement he had reached with MSI included a promise that, if the car ever went off display at the museum, it must be returned to Breedlove.
When the museum moved to retire the car from display in October 2015, Breedlove requested its return, having noted during an earlier visit to the museum that the car had suffered “a significant amount of damage,” primarily from people climbing on it or carving their names or other graffiti on it, the complaint alleged. He also alleged the museum had apparently enlisted “incompetent and unqualified personnel” to repair and repaint it, and had “unprofessionally cut and re-welded” the car’s frame.
Breedlove had asked the court to order the museum to pay at least $395,000 for needed repairs, plus punitive and exemplary damages and attorney fees.
Shortly after Breedlove brought the lawsuit, the museum won a dismissal of the case, claiming Breedlove and MSI had no written contract to govern how the museum was to care for the car. However, a federal judge allowed Breedlove to amend his complaint. And, in early January, the judge rejected the museum’s renewed efforts to dismiss the case, saying the museum could be legally bound to be governed by standards for the care of loaned materials specified by the American Alliance of Museums.
While case law on the subject is scant, the museum’s membership in the American Alliance of Museums and its acquiescence to the AAM’s National Standards and Best Practices can serve to establish a guideline for the museum’s obligations and fiduciary duties to those who loan items to be displayed in the museum’s collection, the judge said.
As of the evening of Jan. 23, neither MSI nor Breedlove had presented a motion to the judge regarding a settlement.
Breedlove is represented in the action by attorneys with the firms of Freeman Freeman & Smiley, of Los Angeles, and Horwood Marcus & Berk, of Chicago.
The Museum of Science and Industry is defended by attorneys with the firm of Schiff Hardin LLP, of Chicago.
A bit of entertainment...
Spirit of America.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/zZPWsMrehEA[/youtube]
The first Spirit of America
The Spirit of America was the first of the modern record breaking jet-propelled cars, built with a narrow streamlined fuselage, three wheel chassis, and most significantly, turbojet engine. Like most of the other competing vehicles the engine was ex-military, the first Spirit had a General Electric J47 engine from an F-86 Sabre
and was tested at Bonneville Salt Flats in 1962, where difficult handling resulted in failure. Before trying again, a new stabilizer and steerable front wheel were added.
Breedlove set his first record on September 5, 1963 at Bonneville, the first man to set an average speed of over 400 mph (640 km/h) during a land speed record.
At the time of Spirit of America's construction the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) rules for a land speed record required a four wheel chassis. Spirit's record was thus not recognised as an official record by the FIA. The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) did recognise it however, classing Spirit as a three-wheeler motorcycle. Although this controversy has been widely reported since as being due to the use of a jet engine, the FIA rules describing a qualifying car as being "driven through its wheels", the only issue raised seriously at the time was over the number of wheels, hence the FIM acceptance.
For a period there were thus two simultaneous land speed records, the 1947 Railton Mobil Special record remaining as the FIA four-wheel Class A record, which from July 1964 went to Campbell's Bluebird. Although Bluebird also used a "jet engine", it was a turboshaft that drove the wheels.
Both FIA & FIM records were broken in October 1964 by Tom Green and further extended by Art Arfons. Breedlove returned to Bonneville with Spirit and pushed the record over 500 mph (800 km/h), setting it at 526.277 mph (846.961 km/h) on October 15, a record that stood for almost two weeks. In setting the new record, at the end of his second run, the Spirit lost its parachute brakes, skidded for five miles (8 km), through a row of telephone poles and crashed into a brine pond at around 200 mph (320 km/h). Drenched but uninjured, Breedlove climbed out of the cockpit and declared "And now for my next act I'm going to set myself on fire."[2] This feat earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for longest skid marks. Spirit was recovered and taken to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago as an exhibit.
Spirit of America - Sonic 1
A new Spirit was built over 1964-65 to attempt to beat Arfons, dubbed Spirit of America - Sonic I a four-wheel design with a much higher rated GE J79 engine originally from an F-4 Phantom II, the same type as that used by Arfons' Green Monster.
Another tit-for-tat with Arfons ended with Breedlove setting the record at 600.601 mph (966.574 km/h) on November 15, 1965, a record that stood until 1970, broken by Gary Gabelich's The Blue Flame land speed record rocket car. The Sonic I vehicle is currently on display at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
lawsuit over condition of historic jet car loaned to Museum of Science & Industry
Jonathan Bilyk Jan. 23, 2017, 10:58pm
Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry and legendary driver Craig Breedlove have reached an agreement to end their legal dispute over the condition of the historic jet-propelled car in which Breedlove set two land speed records in the 1960s.
On Jan. 23, the museum and Breedlove issued a joint statement confirming they had reached the deal to end Breedlove’s lawsuit against MSI for the museum’s alleged mistreatment of the car, dubbed the Spirit of America.
The statement said the settlement terms were confidential.
“Breedlove drove the racecar in 1963 when he recaptured the world land-speed record for the United States,” said the museum and Breedlove in the prepared statement. “For more than 50 years, millions of museum visitors were able to get an up-close view of the racecar.
“The confidential agreement fully resolves a lawsuit brought against the museum regarding the condition of the car.”
The case landed in Chicago federal court in June 2016, when Breedlove, a five-time holder of world land speed records and the first man to drive a car 600 miles per hour, sued MSI, alleging the museum failed to properly care for and protect the Spirit of America.
Breedlove, of California, had provided the car to MSI in 1965 for an exhibit. The car had crashed in 1964, but was repaired and cleaned, though not restored to driving condition, for the exhibit.
According to Breedlove’s complaint, the oral agreement he had reached with MSI included a promise that, if the car ever went off display at the museum, it must be returned to Breedlove.
When the museum moved to retire the car from display in October 2015, Breedlove requested its return, having noted during an earlier visit to the museum that the car had suffered “a significant amount of damage,” primarily from people climbing on it or carving their names or other graffiti on it, the complaint alleged. He also alleged the museum had apparently enlisted “incompetent and unqualified personnel” to repair and repaint it, and had “unprofessionally cut and re-welded” the car’s frame.
Breedlove had asked the court to order the museum to pay at least $395,000 for needed repairs, plus punitive and exemplary damages and attorney fees.
Shortly after Breedlove brought the lawsuit, the museum won a dismissal of the case, claiming Breedlove and MSI had no written contract to govern how the museum was to care for the car. However, a federal judge allowed Breedlove to amend his complaint. And, in early January, the judge rejected the museum’s renewed efforts to dismiss the case, saying the museum could be legally bound to be governed by standards for the care of loaned materials specified by the American Alliance of Museums.
While case law on the subject is scant, the museum’s membership in the American Alliance of Museums and its acquiescence to the AAM’s National Standards and Best Practices can serve to establish a guideline for the museum’s obligations and fiduciary duties to those who loan items to be displayed in the museum’s collection, the judge said.
As of the evening of Jan. 23, neither MSI nor Breedlove had presented a motion to the judge regarding a settlement.
Breedlove is represented in the action by attorneys with the firms of Freeman Freeman & Smiley, of Los Angeles, and Horwood Marcus & Berk, of Chicago.
The Museum of Science and Industry is defended by attorneys with the firm of Schiff Hardin LLP, of Chicago.
A bit of entertainment...
Spirit of America.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/zZPWsMrehEA[/youtube]
