AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY – December 17, 1979 – Hollywood Stuntman Breaks Record

AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY – December 17, 1979 – Hollywood Stuntman Breaks Record

A Hollywood stuntman, Stan Barrett. has become the first man to break the sound barrier on land.

Mr. Barrett, 36 years cia, reacneo a record speed of 739.666 miles an hour as his 60,000‐horsepower rocket vehicle flashed across this dry lake bed today, radar tracking equipment showed. Mr. Barrett had to exceed 731.9 miles an hour to break the sound barrier with the temperature at 20 degrees Farenheight.

“I had no idea when I went through,” Mr. Barrett said. “I felt a lot of resistance, then everything went smooth, and then there was a jolt like hitting a brick wall.”

The five and three‐quarter mile run across the coffee‐colored lake bed took only seconds.

Mr. Barrett flicked a series of switches, gently pushed the accelerator with his right foot and the $800,000 rocket vehicle blasted off in a cloud of dust with a giant flame from the tail. He counted 12 seconds, then pushed a button on his steering wheel that fired a 12,000‐horsepower sidewinder missile inside the rocket vehicle to boost the power of the 48,000‐horsepower engine.

The vehicle seemed to veer to the right as it started off, then straightened as it raced past the complicated timing devices. Its driver was subjected to a strain of six times his body weight.

After Mr. Barrett had traveled three miles he released a parachute which eventually brought his free‐wheeling vehicle to a halt.

Then he had to wait an agonizing ten hours while Air Force radar experts ran the information that was collected by their scanning equipment through computers.