For the Australian rules footballer, see
Dick Noble
.
Richard James Anthony Noble
,
OBE
(born 6 March 1946) is a Scottish entrepreneur who was holder of the
land speed record
between 1983 and 1997. He was also the project director of
ThrustSSC
, the vehicle which holds the current land speed record, set at
Black Rock Desert
,
Nevada
in 1997.
Richard James Anthony Noble
|
---|
Richard Noble (left)
|
Born
| (
1946-03-06
)
6 March 1946
(age?78)
|
---|
Education
| Winchester College
|
---|
Occupation
| Speed record holder
|
---|
Noble was born in
Edinburgh
,
Scotland
and educated at
Winchester College
.
[1]
He became a qualified pilot.
In 1984 he exploited a production hiatus at
Cessna
aircraft to create the
ARV Super2
, a new all-British light
aircraft
.
[2]
The Super2 was fitted with a new British engine, the
Hewland AE75
. Only around 40 ARVs were made before the
Isle of Wight
factory closed.
[3]
[4]
Thrust2
, the record-breaking car driven by Noble, travelled at 633.468?mph (1019?km/h) in the
Black Rock Desert
in
Nevada
,
US
. The accomplishment won Noble the 1983
Segrave Trophy
. ThrustSSC, the supersonic car driven by
Andy Green
, broke the record at 763.035?mph (1221?km/h) or Mach 1.02. Noble was planning another land speed record attempt to take place in 2019:
Bloodhound SSC
which aimed to surpass 1,000?mph but the project went into bankruptcy and was sold to Ian Warhurst. Noble remained a Director on both Bloodhound Project and Bloodhound Education Ltd. Bloodhound Education is a stand-alone charity which is funded by grants from corporate sponsors such as
Saudi Aramco
and others. ?
[5]
Noble's next project was to develop the "
Farnborough F1
", a six-passenger single-engined
turboprop
low-wing aircraft designed as an "Air Taxi" that could operate out of small airstrips.
[6]
The intended market was to provide transport for businessmen who found the existing air, rail and road networks too inflexible and expensive. Noble started Farnborough Aircraft in 1998, but after failing to find backing from any major financial institution, sold shares to small investors. A bitter dispute followed, and development stopped while new investment was found. The rights to the design were transferred and the aircraft renamed
Kestrel K-350
. A prototype aircraft first flew in 2006
[7]
but certification and production remain uncertain.
[8]
[9]
In 2010 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Technology by the
University of the West of England
.
[10]
Noble's autobiography is titled
Thrust: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Quest for Speed
.
[11]
- ^
Langley, William (3 June 2012).
"Queen's Diamond Jubilee: 60 crowning glories"
.
The Telegraph
. London
. Retrieved
13 January
2015
.
- ^
The Super2 was designed by
Bruce Giddings
.
- ^
Taylor, John W.R., ed.
Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89
. Coulsden, Surrey, UK: Jane's Information Group, 1988.
ISBN
0-7106-0867-5
. page 279
- ^
"ARV"
.
britishaviation-ptp.com
. Retrieved
29 April
2015
.
- ^
BBC News: Supersonic car targets 1,000mph"
- ^
Matthew St1bbe.
"Richard Noble's New Mission"
. Retrieved
28 July
2010
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
"Farnborough Aircraft F1 Kestrel prototype performs first flight"
. London:
Flightglobal
. 1 August 2006
. Retrieved
24 August
2010
.
- ^
Dave Higdon.
"Turboprop round-up"
. Archived from
the original
on 3 March 2012
. Retrieved
28 July
2010
.
- ^
Aviation Week & Space Technology
: 71. 14 October 2013.
- ^
"UWE awards honorary degree to Richard Noble OBE"
. University of the West of England
. Retrieved
4 February
2011
.
- ^
Thrust: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Quest for Speed
, Richard Noble, Partridge Press, Oct 1998
- Noble, Richard (1998).
Thrust: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Quest for Speed
. London: Partridge Press.
ISBN
978-1852252687
.
- Shapiro, Harvey (1997).
Man Against the Salt
. London: Minerva Press.
ISBN
978-1858638980
.