Bluebird K7 Latest

I remember reading on here a few years ago, a load of new posters signed up just to have a row.

The conversation should be about Donald, K7, Coniston and nothing else. The current 'custodian' of the craft shouldn't really be discussed. Otherwise, thus thread will get shut down under threat of legal action or something.

Very sensible suggestions.

Interesting that the museum say they have several spare engines ready to fit, and are commenting on various social media posts saying clearly ‘Yes, it will be run on the water again’

She has nothing to prove. Except perhaps how unstable she is in a bit of chop. But we know that to the pilot's destruction.

Having her in the Ruskin and not elsewhere out of public view in between any (in my opinion, unnecessary) runs on the lake, can only be a good thing.

There just isn't any need for heroes to push the limits of speed on water, land or air anymore.

We can put a man on the moon, we can send unmanned craft to Mars. We don't need to have the fastest man/woman on water any more. There is no point. It doesn't capture the imagination of small boys any more. Like steam engines. Rev W Audrey would still be writing a sermon each week these days. The romance of derring do isn't a thing at all.

Whatever!

We definitely don't need anymore tourism in the Lakes its full to bursting already.

It's now very difficult to extricate the recovery and restoration from the picture, of course.

For example... one of the legacies of the restoration being done the way it was (as opposed to the way that the advisors to the Lottery Commission wanted to see it done) is that quite a lot of re-engineering has taken place.

The reason K7 performed so 'well' on Bute (coming onto the plane very quickly and easily, where Campbell had really struggled back in '66) was because a lot of weight had been taken out of the (newly built) sponsons. This would actually make her considerably more dangerous at really high speed, though... clearly, the '67 accident taught us that the last thing K7 needs at 250mph+ is to be made lighter at the front.

There's lots of other stuff, as well - things like the throttle linkage (which on the day she crashed was a cobbled-together adaptation of the linkage used for the original Beryl engine) being re-engineered from scratch to suit the Orpheus.

Unfortunately (IMO, since I agree with others who say it is no longer appropriate to run her at 'competition' speeds), what we're left with is effectively a 'restomod', and as with all restomods, the corruption of originality only really justifies itself - if at all, on something as historically unique as K7 - if you're aiming at user-friendliness for regular operation.

A lot of her originality and historic importance has been lost because the man who undertook the restoration unilaterally decided to do so with that in mind.

Does it matter? Perhaps not: she looks the same, if all you want is something for schoolkids to gaze upon in wonder. But it means that any future technical analysis will need very careful assessment (against the rebuild documentation, which is a resource that could easily be lost) to understand whether what you're looking at was how the boat was configured in '67, or whether it was created in a shed in Sunderland in 2015.

I'll be going to see her as soon as she returns to Coniston (sorry, Jazoli!), but the experience will be tainted by knowedge of the tragic farce that has played out in the years since she was raised.

Hello again Gents,

Some interesting comments been made already, I hope it stays that way. I really hope this doesn’t descend Into another bashing exercise towards individuals.

In response to some of the posts relating to how relevant WSR and LSR are in this modern age? It does make you wonder? I even think myself DC was getting a bit, how can I say it? Out of fashion perhaps - for the time.

And I completely agree with Jazoli.

Considering any if? Future runs for Bluebird on Coniston is probably not viable now - from a spectator perspective. And logistical for anyone wanting to coordinate.

Anyone who has driven on the roads around Coniston will know. The west side is very enjoyable drive, but tight in a lot of places. The east side is a nightmare.

Throw a few thousand? Spectators into the mix and it would be absolute bedlam.

My old man himself said, it was gridlock back in the sixties during record attempts to watch as spectator.

And there was nowhere near the amounts of car owners back then compared with present times.

Anyone who wants to read more about Donald, I can thoroughly recommend David Tremayne’s book - Donald Campbell The Man Behind The Mask.

A truly excellent read, it’s right up there with my favourite (classic) motorsport book: James Hunt by Gerald Donaldson.

Another good one is: With Campbell at Coniston by Arthur Knowles.

I was there for Campbell's funeral and the village was well beyond gridlocked, even 'just' for the funeral, and in paticularly grim Lake District weather (cold, raining all day). ISTR queuing in traffic for a good couple of hours or more, with tempers getting frayed over parking.

Try it for something with as much popular appeal as actually seeing the boat run - and which necessarily must take place in fine conditions - and you'd probably gridlock the whole of the Lake District for the day!

From following the rebuild online (Before the details were all taken down and hidden) that's not quite right- the new sponsons are a carbon copy of the originals. Bill Smith claimed that the originals may have been filled with foam but that was the only difference.

Campbell struggled in 1966 until the famous lead weights were added to the rear of the craft to shift the CofG. The BBP just put it back as recovered, so it was already balanced in favour of planing from the off.