#gary gabelich

[stone-cold-groove]

The Blue Flame land speed record vehicle.

[georg4712]

[reignofmethanol]

reignofmethanol:

[talesofla]

Gary Gabelich: Born 1940, San Pedro, California Raised: In Long Beach, California

First taste of the daredevil's lifestyle: Racing hot rods while still in high school

First job: Test astronaut for the North American Rockwell company

How he met The Blue Flame: Hired by Reaction Dynamics, Inc., after two more established drivers — Fellow Californian Craig Breedlove, holder at the time of the land speed record, wanted too much money, and Chuck Suba, a drag racer, was killed in a racing accident.

What was The Blue Flame? — A 37-foot-long, 4,950-pound vehicle powered by a liquid natural gas-hydrogen peroxide rocket engine and built to break the land speed record.

Result of Gabelich's first attempt to break the land speed record in The Blue Flame in September, 1970: A dismal failure; the car reached a speed of only 426 mph (compared to Breedlove's five-year-old record of 600.601 mph)

What happened on October 28, 1970, after a battery of tests and adjustments to The Blue Flame? — Gabelich drove the Blue Flame to an average speed of 617.602 mph on his first run of the day and 627.207 on the second run, for a new land speed record of 622.407.

What speed did Gabelich say that he thought The Blue Flame could reach if he was given a chance? — 750 mph

What did Gabelich do after Reaction Dynamics, satisfied with the one record-breaking run, mothballed The Blue Flame? — He became a drag racer, severing his hand in 1972 (doctors reattached it), and he was killed in a motorcycle crash in 1984.

"When I was a little kid I drew a picture of an actual rocket and put wheels on it. And here it is today and it's a reality." -Gary Gabelich

"They will return again to Bonneville (Salt Flats, where Gabelich broke the land speed record), those pioneers of speed. For theirs is a quest that knows no boundaries. The frontiers are as far as a young boy's dreams. Or as near, perhaps, as tomorrow." –Cheesy narrator at the end of a documentary about Gabelich and The Blue Flame

Number of years later that Gabelich's land speech record was broken: 13 (by Richard Noble driving Thrust2 in 1983)

Year Gary Gabelich was inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame: 2008