Donald Campbell was tragically killed piloting his K7 speed record boat on Coniston Water, in the Lake District on January the 4th 1967 whilst trying to become the first person to go over 300mph on water. He had achieved a run of 297mph on the first leg, but turning around without refueling and not waiting for his wake to settle, he set off on the second leg.The boat flipped of the water after exceeding a speed of over 300mph, somersaulted and disintegrated on landing on the surface.
The remains of Bluebird K7 have recently been recovered from the mirky depths of Coniston Water, by a team led by Bill Smith, and is now under restoration in Newcastle upon Tyne. When complete, K7 will be moved to The Ruskin Museum, Coniston, where an exhibition has been set up in memory of the Speed King.
Donald's body has also been recovered by Bill Smith's team, and the funeral was held on September 12th '03. Donald's body now lies in the Coniston village cemetery.
Gone, but never forgotten.
Last edited by ZerK; 03-27-2004 at 01:12 PM.
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"We used to come down, doing about 180mph. We take off over the bridge and change down to 4th gear in the air. Go through the righthander with the car drifting, and let it swing out through the lefthander and then slide out to the wall, where we simply stopped it with a flick of the wrists"
-Vic Elford, on Maison Blanche in a Porsche 917
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