Record Breaking Bluebird Hydroplane Revived Half a Century After Crash

The icon of the world water speed records was Donald Campbell, holder of eight absolute such achievements and to this date the single man to have set the speed records for both land and water in the same year.

For his aquatic runs, Campbell used the Bluebird, a jet engined hydroplane powered by a Metropolitan-Vickers Beryl axial-flow turbojet engine.

Capable of generating 3500 pound-force (16 kN) of thrust, the Bluebird managed to propel the driver-pilot to a top speed of 178 miles per hour (286 kph), nearly 100 miles per hour (162 kph) faster than the existing record of the time.

In 1967, while trying to reach a top speed of 300 miles per hour (480 kph) on Coniston Water, the third largest lake in the English Lake District, Campbell was killed, and his vehicle sank to the bottom.

The machine stood there until 2001 when it was brought to the surface together with human remains confirmed to have been Campbell’s. Whereas the body was buried on the premises of a church located in the vicinity, the Bluebird entered a restoration process that lasted 17 years.

This past weekend, the vehicle once again took to the water, this time on Loch Fad on the Isle of Bute in Scotland. The team of 14 engineers who worked on the project, led by Bill Smith, says the resurrected Bluebird is made of 98 percent of the original parts.

As per Daily Mail, even if the vehicle has been restored, it will not be used to set a new speed record. Currently, the Bluebird is conducting low-speed tests, and it will continue to do so throughout August.

The team is hopeful they will manage to get it fully operational within a year, although they did not say what they will use it for.