8 July 1984
On our way back from Lake Tahoe, we overnighted in Wendover, Nevada. The next morning, we completed the remainder of our trip home. We didn’t dally much along the way, but we did stop briefly to check out Utah’s world-famous Bonneville Salt Flats.
Google Maps satellite image of the Bonneville Salt Flats.
The salt flats is a densely-packed salt pan that is a remnant of the Pleistocene Period (2,588,000 to 12,000 years BP [before present]) Lake Bonneville. It is probably best known for the Bonneville Speedway, Utah’s “famed measured-mile site of world land-speed record runs.”
From the signage erected on the flats in 1972:
Utah’s famed measured-mile is located approximately seven miles beyond this marker, well in front of the mountains you see on the horizon. The elevation along the course is approximately 4,218 feet (1,286 m) above sea level.
The total length of the course that includes the measured-mile varies from year to year, but for recent runs it has been laid out in a path 80 feet (24 m) wide and approximately 10 miles (16 km) long, with a black reference stripe down the middle. Due to the curvature of the earth, it is impossible to see from one end of the course to the other.
Signage with the mountains mentioned above.
Timing of world land-speed record runs is under the jurisdiction of the United States Automobile Club. World land-speed record times represent an electronically-timed average of two runs over the measured-mile, within a one hour time period — one run in each direction.
The first world land-speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats was set on September 3, 1935 by Sir Malcolm Campbell. His speed was 301.13 mph (481.8 kph).
Craig Breedlove holds the honor of being the first man to go faster than 400, 500, and 600 mph (640, 800, and 960 kph). His record of 600.601 mph, set on November 15, 1965 was finally broken on October 23, 1970, by Gary Gabelich. Gabelich’s new record is 622.407 mph (995.851 kph).
Both Gabelich’s rocket engine ‘Blue Flame’ and Breedlove’s jet-powered ‘Spirit of America’ were equipped with specially designed inflatable tires, pre-tested to speeds in excess of 800 mph (1,280 kph).
We took just a few photos at the salt flats; none of them any good. Despite our best intentions, we never went back there, however, so here are two of the pictures anyway.
According to the list in this Wikipedia article, the current land-speed record is 763.035 mph (1,227.986 kph). It is the first supersonic record, and it was set in 1997 by Andy Green at Black Rock Desert.
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