Jessi Combs killed in land speed record crash

JRS · 28 Aug 2019 at 16:06

Link.

Jessi Combs—vehicle builder, racer, fabricator, TV personality, and all-around automotive legend—was killed on Tuesday in a crash while attempting to break her own land-speed record in southeast Oregon. She was 36.

The crash occurred as Combs was piloting her jet-powered land-speed car on the Alvord Desert, a dry lake bed where several land-speed records have been set. According to local reports, the crash happened shortly after 4pm local time.

RIP

The_Abyss · 28 Aug 2019 at 22:10

I read the headline, seems sad.

However, I've never heard of her and wasn't aware of the land speed record attempt.

Flibster · 28 Aug 2019 at 22:33

Awww crap.

She was great on Mythbusters and Overhauling, had a passion for engineering and going fast and was genuinely funny.

Wait... She was driving North American Eagle? Damn... They've lost their 2 drivers in a year now. Shadle to cancer and Combs in an accident. This time it sounds like they've lost the vehicle too.

*doffs hat*
R.I.P.

Hotwired · 28 Aug 2019 at 22:38

A lot of risk for the fame in powered speed heroics.

Don't even think it progresses anything either other than the record. It's not a good plan to put a jet engine in a "car" but if you want to break the record that's the kind of bad decision you need to make.

JBeck · 29 Aug 2019 at 07:34

Just read this elsewhere, I hadn't seen her before but she seemed like a great personality, this is really sad, RIP Jessi

Flibster · 9 Sep 2019 at 14:55

Just seen pictures of the wreckage....

Holy hell. :eek:

JRS · 6 Nov 2019 at 22:15

Some more details about the crash have been released. Front wheel failed, most probably from hitting an object on the desert surface. And this is why teams are obsessive about clearing the running path for LSR cars, trying to minimise the chance that something like this happens.

Hotwired · 11 Nov 2019 at 08:53

Found out the the vehicle was the north american eagle project meant to challenge the thrust SSC record.

Which I'd say writes off that attempt. The other one still going on is the bloodhound car which has gone bankrupt once already and whether it gets any records or not will likely continue to be a bottomless pit for funding.

JRS · 11 Nov 2019 at 11:20

Hotwired said:
Found out the the vehicle was the north american eagle project meant to challenge the thrust SSC record.

Which I'd say writes off that attempt. The other one still going on is the bloodhound car which has gone bankrupt once already and whether it gets any records or not will likely continue to be a bottomless pit for funding.

There's also allegedly a couple of Australian projects. Rosco McGlashan has Aussie Invader 5R, which may run one day but I somehow doubt will get near the record - Aussie Invader II crashed when he attempted to beat Thrust2's record, AI III didn't get anywhere near Mach 1 before ThrustSSC set the record and was sold to fund 5R. And there's also the Bullet Project, which might be dead given the lack of movement for quite some time.

Bloodhound is currently testing at the Hakskeen Pan where record attempts will eventually be made next year hopefully.