A ROCKET-propelled three wheeler has gone where no car has ever gone before.
A specially-converted Reliant Robin - the make of van made famous by Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses - was given a Space Shuttle-style facelift.
Then it was strapped to an 88ft rocket assembly and blasted into the sky for the hit motoring BBC TV show, Top Gear.
Presenters Richard Hammond and James May were on hand to explain the amazing flight.
Hammond narrowly escaped death last year when another stunt went wrong - and he crashed a jet-powered car at almost 300mph.
Stockport-based firm Rocket Men, which designs aerospace components, was challenged by the BBC programme to do the stunt.
The company's Damian Hall and Colin Rowe called in Mottram Engineering from Hyde to ensure the idea really did take off.
Mr Hall and Mr Rowe first appeared on Top Gear when they launched a rocket-propelled Mini Cooper down the 1994 Olympic ski jump at Lillehammer in Norway.
This time, the team was given four months to build the massive rocket and attach it to the Robin.
Space
Peter Bryan, who runs Mottram Engineering, helped get many of the materials and provided space in his factory so that the rocket - one of the largest flown from Britain - could be built.
He said: "Never in Del Boy Trotter's wildest dreams would he have imagined a beloved Reliant Robin soaring into space."
The car was stripped of its interior to reduce its weight. Lighter wheels were added, along with wings, rocket motors and flight systems to enable the car to be flown remotely once it separated from its booster set-up.
Its final flying weight was reduced to 250kg - just over a third of its usual weight on the road.
Mr Hall, from the Rocket Men, said: "Peter and his team were incredibly flexible in their approach and added real engineering expertise to the project.
"We needed a laser cutting machine and it was perfect for us that the different elements could be manufactured, assembled, welded and spray-painted on site.
"It was also a real bonus that we found a company so local to us who could provide such a `one-stop shop' service.
"It was a very tense and time-consuming project."
It was assembled at Otterburn Artillery Range in Northumberland, with a flight engineer on hand for the launch.
The blast off Robin will be screened by Top Gear on BBC 2 on February 18.
Comments
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And the point of this exercise was..?
This, T.V. licence payers, you payed for. A boys jolly!. Hope it does`nt land on my head!.
what a good fun local story - makes a change from all the bad news !
Lets just see how Reliant it is,out of this world dudes,can`t wait.Watch this SPACE,its gonna be a blast...excuse the pun or three.
Del & Rodneys van is not a Reliant Robin.
It is a Reliant Supervan based on the Reliant Regal.
What a silly, but fun, thing to do. It's good to know we still have the skills to do stuff like this in this country. I'm glad my TV licence is going to fund it, there's lots of TV programmes I would pay NOT to have made, but each to their own....
No wonder the TV licence keeps going up?and they call this entertainment? Its time to scrap the licence fee and make them advertise.Then we will see how good their programs are? "They will be bancrupt within two years" That is why they are scared stiff to get rid of the licence fees. The best money making scam ever invented .
Ive just thought of a missed chance of advertising for the BBC a big sign down the side of that rocket that says (cheese is good for you) or (driving fast in a rocket is bad for you) good message there for road safety .heehheeeeh or trotters independant traders.? i wonder if dell boy would bung the beeb some wonga??
Well, all I can say is what a bunch of old misery guts most of the commenters are! The Beeb provides News, Drama, Science, Documentaries, Light entertainment, comedy & currect affairs. So why not this? It seems to me that it fits many of the categories above! Lighten up! And congrats to the team involved, just shows what we mancs can do if we put our mind to it! Can't wait for the show to go out.
Kev, Manchester
Well kev when they dump the licence fee you will be able to pay to watch the BBC that way the people who like the BBC can pay and those who dont dont have to pay for "your enjoyment" I dont like many of the BBC programd but i do want a choice? And i dont like being forced to pay for other peoples enjoyment. Did you hear that ""FORCED TO PAY"" I would rather have a free choice to watch and pay for what i watch .I dont want to pay for some overgrown well paid BBC kids enjoy themselves at my expense "I know how much clarkson and his team rent cars for their tv shows" and if you knew how much the BBC rented cars for the show you would moan.What they pay for a car for three days is most peoples monthly wage?? do you think that is right?
to the guy below, you should see the garbage on PBS in the states. be glad that you get good programing over there.
Top gear is a very poular programme around the world, and the BBC make a lot of money from selling the rights, so the programme is NOT funded by your licence fee. Plus, the cars tested are provided FOC by the manufacturers marketing department, like they do for ALL motoring journolists.
To Ace, I agree about being forced to pay for the licence fee, and I'd like to see UK TV to be licence free. I wonder whether you also have paid subscription TV (Sky, Cable?). Most people pay through the nose for that and then complain about the licence fee
But as the other reader has said, the BBC sell TG to almost every country in the world, as well as the revenue from residual sales of merchadise DVDs etc. So the costs involved in making the programme are far offset by the income gained from that.
Just Brilliant! About time - we need TV like this! Entertainment at it's best. Who cares if it didn't do exactly what it was supposed to do, but it was true experimentation and thoroughly British. More please.
Wow!! What an amazing idea! Shame it didnt detatch. I just couldnt believe they could afford to do that.. How much money do the bbc have!??
This is fantastic television, and i wish more of my licence money was spent this way. The current crop of doom and gloom soap opera wars is moron fodder, at least this made you think! Bring back the Open University and their Tank Tops and lets launch moe stuff into ordbit!
"And the point of this exercise was..?
Al Capone, Atherton"
Messing about of the highest order. Well done Top Gear :D
possibly the best TV entertainment I've seen in years. I loved the technology and was open mouthed when the Robin did not seperate from the booster. What a crash!!
Keep up the good work
while I don't get the BBC2 here in the US, I was able to find it already uploaded to the internet by mid morning and I must say that it was the most incredible video I've ever watched.. I can only wish that I was there to see it live..
Best thing on TV in years, well worth the licence fee.hahaha, NEED THE URL FOR VIDEO, FRIENDS IN US MUST HAVE IT...
Did the detachment fail because the thrust was travelling faster than the car, ie: it was creating the pull, if the car had thrust would it have taken the force off the docking mechanism?
caine@7sfgcentral.org
We have watched the launch a number of times Congratulations to all who were involved,
a program should have been made about all the work that went into it.
Excellent TV entertainment!
By the way, is Ace Reilly the same Ace Reilly who regularly asks on EServe about how to get Top Gear tickets