Donald Campbell’s Bluebird Whole Again
On Wednesday 26th September 07 an unprecedented piece of engineering will be officially unveiled in the presence of the legendary speed ace’s daughter, Gina Campbell QSO.
Originally constructed in 1954, the main frame of Donald Campbell’s Bluebird hydroplane returned to Lancashire, the place of its birth, over half a century later to be rebuilt by nelson-based PDS Engineering, an aerospace supplier with links to other successful speed-record vehicles.
Bluebird remains the most successful water speed record boat ever constructed and held the record seven times until the spectacular accident in January 1967 that claimed Donald Campbell’s life.
Thirty four years later in 2001, Bluebird was recovered from the lake and in October 2006 works to return her to full running condition commenced.
The rebuilt frame is a masterful blend of ingenuity and engineering excellence as it represents the first successful application of rigorous museum conservation ethics whilst engineering an object back to working condition – two disciplines hitherto staunchly opposed.
Following two declined applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund the rebuild team, including experts from BOC (British Oxygen) and TWI (The Welding Institute), worked thousands of man-hours free of charge to painstakingly reconstruct the frame whilst retaining over ninety-eight percent of the original material recovered from the depths of Coniston Water.
So committed is the Bluebird-Project to using only original components that a four-month salvage operation took place earlier this year to recover the last, missing piece of cockpit frame, which is now incorporated into the completed structure. This was only possible with the use of a prototype sonar designed by Westhill, Aberdeen based Tritech International.
Richard Marsh, Managing Director of Tritech International commented:“It was a great privilege to be involved with this piece of history and I would like to congratulate Bill Smith and his team on their success. This work is a just and fitting tribute to a very brave man.”
Bluebird’s frame now stands almost entirely original and fully serviceable, a unique landmark in the history of conservation and with refurbishment completed is about to return to Tyneside where reassembly of the boat will commence.
The Bluebird-Project team is rebuilding Donald Campbell’s boat, not as a static museum piece, but to full working order as a living exhibit for future generations to marvel at. This week’s events represent a major milestone on that journey.
The eight metre frame will be collected from PDS’ workshops around 09.00 on Wednesday morning and transported by road to the Bluebird-Project HQ on Tyneside for the next stage of work to begin.
Personally overseeing the move will be Donald Campell’s daughter, Gina, a fierce supporter of the project to bring her father’s boat back to life who has naturally placed such a significant event firmly on her itinerary. Gina will attend both PDS and the Bluebird-Project HQ as the day progresses to meet and personally thank many of the people involved in making this ambitious endeavour a thrilling reality.
