Richard James Anthony Noble, OBE (born 6 March 1946) is a Scottish entrepreneur who was holder of the

land speed record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regul ...

between 1983 and 1997. He was also the project director of

ThrustSSC ThrustSSC, Thrust SSC or Thrust SuperSonic Car is a British jet car developed by Richard Noble, Glynne Bowsher, Ron Ayers, and Jeremy Bliss. Thrust SSC holds the world land speed record, set on 15 October 1997, and driven by Andy Green, ...

, the vehicle which holds the current land speed record, set at

Black Rock Desert __NOTOC__ The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region (in the Great Basin shrub steppe eco-region) of lava beds and playa, or alkali flats, situated in the Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, a si ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

in 1997.

Life

Noble was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

. He became a qualified pilot. In 1984 he exploited a production hiatus at

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing ...

aircraft to create the

ARV Super2 The ARV Super2 (''Air Recreational Vehicle'') is a British two-seat light aircraft with strut-braced shoulder wings and tricycle landing gear. Designed by Bruce Giddings, the Super2 was available either factory-built or as a kit. It was i ...

, a new all-British light

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

. The Super2 was fitted with a new British engine, the

Hewland AE75 Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...

. Only around 40 ARVs were made before the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

factory closed.

Thrust2 Thrust2 is a British designed and built jet propelled car, which held the world land speed record from 4 October 1983 to 25 September 1997. The Thrust2 is powered by a single Rolls-Royce Avon jet engine sourced from an English Electric Light ...

, the record-breaking car driven by Noble, travelled at 633.468 mph (1019 km/h) in the

, US. The accomplishment won Noble the 1983

Segrave Trophy The Segrave Trophy is awarded to the British national who demonstrates "Outstanding Skill, Courage and Initiative on Land, Water and in the Air". The trophy is named in honour of Sir Henry Segrave, the first person to hold both the land and wat ...

. 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 ''Bloodhound LSR'', formerly ''Bloodhound SSC'', is a British land vehicle designed to travel at supersonic speeds with the intention of setting a new world land speed record. The arrow-shaped car, under development since 2008, is powered by a je ...

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 Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...

and others. Noble's next project was to develop the " Farnborough F1", a six-passenger single-engined

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...

low-wing aircraft designed as an "Air Taxi" that could operate out of small airstrips. 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 The Kestrel K-350 or Kestrel (previously the Kestrel JP10) is a high-performance, single engine turboprop, all-composite, six-seat aircraft. The proof-of-concept (POC) first flew on 29 July 2006 and by April 2010, registered N352F, had logged ...

. A prototype aircraft first flew in 2006 but certification and production remain uncertain. In 2010 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Technology by the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

. Noble's autobiography is titled ''Thrust: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Quest for Speed''.''Thrust: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Quest for Speed'', Richard Noble, Partridge Press, Oct 1998

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Official Page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, Richard 1946 births Living people Scottish racing drivers Sportspeople from Edinburgh Land speed record people People educated at Winchester College Officers of the Order of the British Empire Segrave Trophy recipients BRDC Gold Star winners Bonneville 300 MPH Club members