Bluebird K7

[Zombie]

Jic anyone's wondering what a k7 is, it's the jet engined boat that Donald Campbell was killed in after crashing it at ~297mph...

Anyhoo after being rescued from the depths of coniston it's been painstakingly rebuilt by a dedicated team of enthusiasts who can be found here;

http://www.bluebirdproject.com/bbp/

I've been following their progress for a number of years as they've always said they'll do some demo runs up and down coniston once she's back together. I can't imagine anything more inspiring than seeing that happen.

But it would seem my dream is in serious jeopardy. It would seem they've put it to a public (FFS) vote. And everyone's voting against it running again. 80/20 split...

You don't have to register to vote but in the true spirit of pistonheads where speed matters, I implore you all to vote in favour! Please?





http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/

[Roo]

Uh oh. Here we go again.

Irrespective of the public vote, how about the fact that Gina Campbell doesn't want it to ever run again?

[Zombie]

She seemed fairly pragmatic about it in the latest BBC documentry...

[Zombie]

yeah, I know, the link I posted to the poll doesn't work. Must try harder... Will fix it tomorrow.

[TheLastPost]

Zombie said:

I implore you all to vote in favour! Please?

You implore us to vote against the stated wishes of the Campbell family, then?

Even on the Speed Record Group, the concensus is that Gina's wishes should be respected.

Behind all this appears to be a battle for 'custody', if not ownership, of the boat itself, as acknowledged by the Bluebird Project's own Operations Director.

Here's what he said (in full, unedited, but slightly reformatted to suit PistonHeads quote formatting) on the Yahoo! Speed Record Group's forum, shortly before the last thread on Pistonheads was locked and later removed (again - any thread that is critical of the BluebBird Project seems to get removed fairly quickly, presumably under pressure from key individuals therein):

Malcolm Pittwood said:

Chris Bluebird300uk said:

Its's Gina's Dad's boat so absolutely she has every right to be calling the shots. My fear is what will happen now to K7. Potentially a lengthy legal situation that could see K7 never returned to public view. Who owns K7? Who owns the original/new fabric? Is the goodwill attributed to the rebuild now to be invoiced?

Was there always the intention to display K7 in the ruskin Museum in June of this year? If not why the sudden rush job to do so? What happens to the new "Bluebird Wing" if there is no Bluebird to display?

For the record what ever decision Gina makes, is the right decision, in my opinion.

Chris

Not sure now Chris if your opening sentence is accurate. Enthusiasts link DC and K7 of course, but ownership may be another matter. Even Gina has acknowledged the posting made was just her own views.

There are many questions to be answered and many of them fundamental to what is going to happen to K7 not only in the months ahead but the years ahead as well.

Much will depend upon what is practicable in the next two months.

You can stop any plans for waterborne trials just by saying they are not wanted (ignoring the effort that has been carried out in good faith since 2006), but there is probably no way that the build can be accelerated to completion in two months. If indeed June 2013 (taken as a month upon which to hang Gina's "display in the Ruskin by summer" statement) has become some sort of deadline.

The pictures of the conserveering progress in North Shields may be 'delayed', but they did recently show a partially clad central hull still on the 'rotissary' and the skeleton of new sponsons on the bench and Novie working on an engine cover on a support fixture. There cannot be any work in a museum setting if the public are around. Having been to both locations, what will the general public be invited to see in the Campbell Wing of the Ruskin - a museum hall replicating a workshop containg some large pieces of metal? There will be not be a 'boat' to see. I doubt maany will pay to see only a never changing 'garage scene' which even whilst given some dressing, could never commemorate one of the most succesful speed record breakers.

All I can see in the short term is the lengthy legal situation that Chris has described. Far better to get all concerned - and that does not include the contributors to Piston Heads or SRG or BBP or indeed any 'spokespersons' - around a table at a quiet location for a day to talk through what can be done. By all means have an independent chairperson to catch the 'rattles' and guide the discussions, but let's not see lawyers getting richer.

Malcolm Pittwood
aka - (an out of work), Operations Director, Bluebird Project

The whole situation stinks, with BBP seemingly keen on bullying any website that hosts any negative comment on their manoeuvrings into silencing them.

[TheLastPost]

Zombie said:

She seemed fairly pragmatic about it in the latest BBC documentry...

The latest BBC Documentary is now out of date in terms of Gina's views.

Indeed, the statement she recently issued, making clear that she did not wish the boat to run again, suggests that the watching the BBC documentary influenced her decision.

It's perhaps worth re-quoting exactly what she said, since the thread on which is was originally posted has now been deleted:

Gina Campbell via Tony Stuchbury said:

I have just received the following statement from Gina Campbell which clarifies her personal position to all:

Dear Tony...

I'm very suddenly aware that in view of all the discussions and comments on Piston Heads and other Forums there is a ground swell of people wanting to know where I personally stand on the future of K7.

My personal position, and I stress MINE, is that I wish for my Fathers boat to be on display at the Ruskin Museum for this summer season. My feelings on her ever being run again are very negative, after watching the BBC2 film recently my emotions feelings and thoughts have taken a battering, and I now realise that it would be very wrong for her to run. Notwithstanding the risks to both human life and machine it would be sacrilege to my fathers endeavours and memory, equally to hear that main parts of my Dad where never recovered from the lake makes me very uneasy, therefore I now totally withdraw my support for K7 to run again.

You may pass my wishes onto the interested parties on the various forums to which I believe you have access.

Kind regards. Gina C

[Pothole]

'the main parts of my Dad'? so pragmatic about her Father but kind of silly over a lump of metal? Odd.

[TheLastPost]

Odd? Possibly, yes... particularly since she must have known at least since the inquest that all that was recovered was a headless torso; unless she didn't hear this part of the evidence at the inquest, and others kept the information from her?

But not even the key players at Bluebird Project are disputing that Gina did make the above statement...



Anyway, I'm going fishing.

I fully expect this thread to have been locked and deleted (again) by the time I return, which is a great shame for freedom of speech and transparency.

[dr_gn]

So...Two previous Bluebird K7 threads locked, 2 previous Bluebird K7 threads subsequently removed from history (as far as I can tell).

Maybe we should have a poll on how long this one will last?

[fireturk]

my 2p's worth,
much as I would love to see K& run again (even if only slowly) I would fully respect the wishes of Gina Campbell not to run the boat again.

[chevronb37]

I don't wish to see K7 run again. I didn't even wish to see her moved from the bottom of Coniston.

I would be very interested to hear from Don Wales and his understanding of his mother's wishes. When I knew her, the topic of K7 running again wasn't really in discussion but I didn't get the impression she wanted the craft lifted at all.

I'm also not keen on Pistonheads locking or deleting every thread, but as our hosts, that is their prerogative, I suppose...

[chevronb37]

I don't wish to see K7 run again. I didn't even wish to see her moved from the bottom of Coniston.

I would be very interested to hear from Don Wales and his understanding of his mother's wishes. When I knew her, the topic of K7 running again wasn't really in discussion but I didn't get the impression she wanted the craft lifted at all.

I'm also not keen on Pistonheads locking or deleting every thread, but as our hosts, that is their prerogative, I suppose...

[TheLastPost]

Still here, eh?

chevronb37 said:

I'm also not keen on Pistonheads locking or deleting every thread, but as our hosts, that is their prerogative, I suppose...

Meanwhile, we're making them famous. They've even heard of us in Westmorland, apparently:

[TheLastPost]

Bill Smith on the BBP forum said:

There's a chap on the Flypast forum got it right, see below...




...Are not two factors at play here, the legal and emotional position. I understand that the laws relating to salvage only apply to tidal waters and therefore do not apply in this case. I do not think it is disputed now that ownership was originally with the family and that ownership now lies elsewhere in which case a clear understanding of the terms of the transfer for a consideration should have been understood by both parties at that time. With the terms of the transfer understood substantial money and time has been spent restoring K7 with the clear intention to make a run on Coniston Water. There are also the sponsors to consider.

Now Mr Smith is merely quoting someone else (thus cunningly leaving it open for him to deny that he shares these views, despite having stated that the original poster 'got it right').

...but the bit I've quoted above seems to suggest that he believes the 'substantial time and money spent restoring K7' does have a bearing on her current ownership, despite that fact that the individuals contributing the time and money (and materials) for the most part probably viewed them as donations for a restoration for the benefit of the Ruskin Museum (to whom ownership or the wreck had been donated), not to benefit the recently incorporated Bluebird Project Limited and its Directors.

Oh, and 'fk You, Gina - you sold your boat, so you no longer have a say in what we do with it', apparently, and all those claims that the family's wishes would be paramount were made with fingers crossed...

[dr_gn]

"Elephant in the Room" Thread has been closed on the BBP forum BTW...

[robinessex]

Pics of first run(s) on YouTube

Just plain awesome !!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLzBSt3WaKM&t=...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvK14ByAWAQ&t=...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofLCciRtruE&t=...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa0HZbENZxQ&t=...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8RcR_8QWAU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJhAM4x3DGs&t=...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8As5Bse9u64

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urEzpE_yvls

[Hilts]

I thought he was just going to be pottering about but it looks like he got her up to a decent speed, not Campbell's speeds but that would be a bit daft. Well done!

[Condi]

She is elegant when she gets out the water, less so until then.

[robinessex]

Water was a bit choppy. When it goes to Coniston, if the conditions are ok, won't be surprised if he gives it a 'bit of heavy right foot'

[Europa1]

[ahem] https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...