Andy Green | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Andrew Duncan Green |
| Born | 30 July 1962 Atherstone, Warwickshire, England |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1980 – 2019 |
| Rank | Wing Commander |
| Service number | 5203707F |
| Awards | Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Wing Commander Andrew Duncan Green OBE[1] is a retired British Royal Air Force fighter pilot and world land speed record holder since 1997, the first land speed record to break the sound barrier.
He was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. Green's family moved to Hartlepool in the 1970s when his father was appointed chief fire officer of the local fire brigade.[2] Green originally attended High Tunstall School before moving to Marske-by-the-Sea and beginning study at Bydales Comprehensive School. Green later moved to Kent with his family, where he studied at St. Olave's Grammar School in Orpington. While at a car show in Hartlepool at a young age, Green decided that he would be interested in a career within the military.[2]
Green gained an RAF scholarship to Worcester College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1983 with first class honours in mathematics.[3] He qualified as a fighter pilot on F-4 Phantom and Tornado F3 aircraft. In 2003 Green was promoted to Wing Commander.[4] He later became Officer Commanding Operations Wing at RAF Wittering near Peterborough. Green was the captain of the RAF team at the Cresta Run,[5] where he used an experimental French toboggan and held the Inter-Services record for a number of years.
In his capacity as an RAF officer, he has served in West Germany, Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan.[6]
Green is the current holder of the world land speed record, and the only person ever to break the sound barrier on land. On 25 September 1997 in ThrustSSC he beat the previous record in Black Rock Desert, US, reaching a speed of 714.144 miles per hour (1,149.303 km/h). On 15 October 1997, 50 years and 1 day after the sound barrier was broken in aerial flight by Chuck Yeager, Green reached 763.035 miles per hour (1,227.986 km/h), the first supersonic record (Mach 1.016). His call sign was "Dead Dog". As the vehicle exceeded the speed of sound it created a sonic boom.
Green is now working on a new record attempt to break the 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 km/h) mark with Bloodhound LSR.[7]
His next land speed attempt was intended to be for MG in a specially modified MG F called the MG EX255;[8][9] however, due to the time required for modifications, the project did not finish on time and that attempt never happened.
Since then, Green's most recent challenge was the driving of the JCB Dieselmax car, attempting to take the Diesel Land Speed Record over 300 mph (480 km/h). Having tested the vehicle on his own RAF base, Wittering, on 22 August 2006, he broke the previous record of 236 miles per hour (380 km/h) (set in August 1973), after attaining an average speed of 328.767 miles per hour (529.099 km/h) during two runs on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. Twenty four hours later, Green broke his own record, achieving a speed of 350.092 miles per hour (563.418 km/h) on 23 August 2006.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1998 New Year Honours.[10] He was awarded the Segrave Trophy by the Royal Automobile Club in 1997. In 2006 he was awarded the John Cobb Trophy by the British Racing Drivers' Club for "a success of outstanding character"[11] and an Honorary degree from Staffordshire University in July 2008.
On 14 June 2009 Green gained his first circuit racing experience, whilst raising money for the Bloodhound SSC project, by participating in Round 4 of the Elise Trophy at Snetterton.[12]