Discovery Channel Canada featured Cyclone Power Technologies on the network’s primetime science and technology program, Daily Planet. The story, which highlights Cyclone’s attempt with the U.S. Land Steam Record Team to build the fastest steam-powered vehicle on earth, can be accessed at http://watch.discoverychannel.ca (May 11, Episode 168).
The U.S. Land Steam Record (USLSR) vehicle is being designed, constructed and driven by steam car veteran and team leader Chuk Williams. Cyclone will contribute to the project a modified Mark V external combustion automotive engine which, at 180 horsepower generating 860 foot/pounds of starting torque, will attempt to propel the 21-foot, 1,600-pound USLSR vehicle at speeds up to 200 mph.
“We’re thrilled to have the Discovery Channel shine a spotlight on our all-fuel capable, earth friendly automotive engine,” stated Cyclone CEO and engine inventor Harry Schoell. “Our goal from the beginning was to break the land speed record for steam vehicles with an engine that can ultimately be placed economically into everyday passenger cars.”
The current land speed record for steam vehicles is held by Team Inspiration of Great Britain using a modified turbine engine. The British vehicle recorded speeds over 148 mph in August 2009, which broke the previous unofficial record of 145 mph set in 1985 by Bob Barber, and the official FIA record of 127 mph set in 1906 by Fred Marriott, an American driving a Stanley Steamer at Daytona Beach.
Cyclone’s USLSR project has been endorsed by the Steam Automobile Club of America, the pre-eminent association of steam vehicle developers, racers and enthusiasts. Other individuals associated with the team include former engineers at NASA, Lockheed Martin and MIT. For more information, including sponsorship opportunities, visit www.uslandsteamrecord.com.
About Cyclone Power Technologies
Cyclone Power Technologies is the developer of the award-winning Cyclone Engine – an eco-friendly external combustion engine with the power and versatility to run everything from portable electric generators and garden equipment to cars, trucks and locomotives. Invented by company founder and CEO Harry Schoell, the patented Cyclone Engine is a modern-day steam engine, ingeniously designed to achieve high thermal efficiencies through a compact heat-regenerative process, and to run on virtually any fuel – including bio-diesels, syngas or solar – while emitting fewer greenhouse gases and irritating pollutants into the air. Currently in its late stages of development, the Cyclone Engine was recognized by Popular Science Magazine as the Invention of the Year for 2008, and was presented with the Society of Automotive Engineers’ AEI Tech Award in 2006 and 2008. Additionally, Cyclone was recently named Environmental Business of the Year by the Broward County Environmental Protection Department.
