The Blue Flame was the rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

-powered vehicle that achieved the world land speed record

Land speed record

The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...

 on Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 on October 23, 1970. The Blue Flame's kilometer record of 1014.513 km/h (630.388 mph) lasted until 1983 - for 13 years - and was set as an average of the achieved speed in both directions ((629.412 + 631.367)/2= 630.388 mph). Since the kilometer record was faster than the mile record, set on the same two runs, it was the world land speed record. Thrust II

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 car was designed by John Ackroyd and driven by Richard Noble. On October 4, 1983 the car reached a top speed of and broke the record at . This was...

, in 1983, broke The Blue Flame's mile record of 622.407 mph when it went 633 mph, but did not break the kilometer record by the required one percent (636.691 mph) to establish a new record for that distance. As a result, The Blue Flame's kilometer record was not broken until 1997 when the Thrust SSC jet car smashed it while exceeding the speed of sound (Mach 1). The driver, Gary Gabelich

Gary Gabelich

Gary Gabelich was a Croatian-American race car driver who set the land speed record with his rocket-powered vehicle "Blue Flame" on October 23, 1970, achieving an average speed of . Only 13,000 lbs. s.t...

, was of Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n ancestry and native of San Pedro, California.

The Blue Flame was constructed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

 by Reaction Dynamics, a company formed by Pete Farnsworth, Ray Dausman and Dick Keller who had developed the first hydrogen peroxide rocket dragster. The Blue Flame used a combination of hydrogen peroxide and liquified natural gas (LNG), pressurized by helium gas to eclipse previous speed records set with jet engine powered vehicles. The effort was sponsored by The American Gas Association, with technical assistance from the Institute of Gas Technology of Des Plaines, IL.

The engine of the Blue Flame was designed by Reaction Dynamics,Inc. and some of the components were manufactured by Galaxy Manufacturing Co. of Tonawanda, New York. Galaxy Mfg. Co. was formed in 1966 by Donald J Magro and Gerald Muhs and was principally engaged in flow control systems, cavitating venturi, and precision machining fields.

The Blue Flame engine is a re-generatively cooled, liquid-propellent engine of the variable thrust type. It can operate on either a single or dual-propellant basis. In operation, the engine permits natural gas use as a liquid or gas or both with a two-stage combustion start. The oxidizer flow is established first, then LNG enters a heat exchanger where it vaporizes and is brought to combustion temperature. The gas is then injected into the combustion chamber with the oxygen provided by the hydrogen peroxide. A stable flame front is established and the remaining LNG is injected to bring the engine to full power. Nominal design engine running time was 20 seconds at full thrust of 22,000 pounds generating 58,000 equivalent horsepower. Due to testing damage, the actual thrust during the record runs was 11,000 pounds

The frame of the Blue Flame is a semi-monocoque type aluminum, with welded tubular structure in the nose section and with an aluminum "skin." The vehicle is 37 foot long and 7 in 8 in (2.34 m) wide. It has a 306½ inch wheelbase and an empty weight of 4,000 pounds. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. designed 8:00-25 tires for the vehicle, with an outside diameter of 34.8 inches (883.9 mm) and smooth tire tread surface to help prevent heat buildup.