Let Bluebird fly!
Battle for iconic jet boat hots up as museum claims it should stay there... but restorer insists it should be on the water for all to see
WHEN Donald Campbell’s recordbreaking hydroplane took to the water once more after more than half a century, it was a moment to stir the hearts of fans of pioneering British spirit everywhere.
But only days after its first test run, the newly-restored Bluebird K7 could end up at the centre of a legal wrangle over where it should be kept.
Villagers raised £600,000 to build a museum extension to house the boat as part of a deal which swung public opinion into allowing engineer Bill Smith to salvage the wreckage from Coniston Water along with Campbell’s body.
Trustees of the John Ruskin Museum in Coniston, Cumbria, say they expect the jet boat to form the centrepiece of their exhibition. But after a successful test run on Loch Fad, on the Isle of Bute, Mr Smith wants to take Bluebird around the world.
He said: ‘Bluebird has been rebuilt as a living machine, it’s not a dead husk that can be locked away in a museum forever.
‘When we took it out on the water, the interest was phenomenal – to smell the jet fuel and see it dripping wet, it was like 51 years had disappeared in a heartbeat.
‘There are people in Australia and America who want to see it, so I find it unthinkable that it could be locked away. People really need to see the power of it.’
Campbell, 45, died in January, 1967, when Bluebird flipped and then broke in two as it crashed during his attempt to break his own water speed record of 276mph. When it was salvaged in 2001, deeds of ownership were signed between Mr Smith and the Ruskin Museum along with Campbell’s family.
After English Heritage turned down a bid to fund an extension, the community raised £600,000 to have it built. It currently features the chalked outline of Bluebird along with parts donated during the 17-year restoration project.
Anne Hall, chairman of the Ruskin Museum Trust and a Coniston parish councillor, hit back at Mr Smith’s comments.
She said: ‘We have the deeds which were signed when the wreck was handed over. They state quite clearly that when the boat was restored to working order it would be run down Coniston and then handed over to be housed in the Ruskin Museum.
‘When we met Mr Smith on Monday he was very amenable, but next day he appeared to have changed his mind. I put it down to the euphoria of the occasion. I think we will wait for him to come down to earth then point out to him what it says in the deeds.’
Mr Smith said he envisaged Bluebird spending some of its time in the museum – and the rest out on the water.
He added: ‘It will need regular maintenance to keep it operational between trips abroad or to boat shows. The rest of the time it will be in storage, and that’s the time it should be in the museum.
‘By showing people what it can do, it will put Coniston on the map because more people will want to come and see it anyway.’
Mr Smith was backed by Campbell’s daughter, Gina, who was also on Bute for the first running of the restored boat.
She said: ‘I always had my misgivings about the restoration, but when I saw the boat sitting in the water and heard the engines fired up and drive down the loch, I completely changed my attitude.
‘It was as if Bluebird was enjoying itself, showing itself off – it was unbelievably brilliant, magnificent. Grown men were crying with joy and excitement.
‘It would only be fair to let other people who couldn’t be there to see what has been achieved.
‘It should go to Australia and the US and Italy and all the other places my dad took the boat, so they can see what can be done by British engineering.
‘OK, it should have a little bachelor pad in John Ruskin Museum, but for three or four months maximum a year.’
Bluebird will be stripped down and inspected over the next six months before her next public appearance.