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 (LSR) or absolute land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. By a 1964 agreement between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de M ...

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 piloted by Andy Gree ...

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

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

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

in 1997.

Life

Noble was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

. 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 manufactu ...

aircraft to create the

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

, a new all-British light

aircraft An aircraft ( 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 the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

. The Super2 was fitted with a new British engine, the Hewland AE75. Only around 40 ARVs were made before the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

factory closed. Thrust2, 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. 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 Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- l ...

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

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

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. 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 university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

. 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