From Perry Bebbington
Ross Richdale complains about “archaic” measurements in the reporting of the 1000 mph car (6 February, p 27).
His letter reminded me of a story my brother, an electrical engineer in the power industry, told me. During the UK miners’ strike in the early 1980s, power stations burning fuels other than coal had to generate as much electricity as possible to conserve coal stocks. One of the generators at Grain power station in Kent was rated at 690 megawatts, but they managed to run it at 746 MW long enough to achieve a record output of 1 million horsepower. Now that’s what I call archaic.
Kimberley, Nottinghamshire, UK
