Design
Donald Campbell began his record-breaking career in 1949. Hitherto, he had been using his father Sir Malcolm Campbell's propellor-driven hydroplane Bluebird K4 for his attempts, but in 1951 it was destroyed by structural failure, when its gearbox sheared its mountings, and punched through the floor of the hull.
Following rival racer John Cobb's death in Crusader in 1952, Campbell began development of his own all metal jet-powered Bluebird K7 to challenge the record held by the American hydroplane Slo-Mo-Shun IV. Designed by Ken and Lew Norris, the K7 was an aluminium, three-point hydroplane with a Metropolitan-Vickers Beryl axial-flow turbojet engine, producing 3500 pound-force (16 kN) of thrust. Like Slo-Mo-Shun, but unlike Cobb's tricycle Crusader, the three points were arranged in "pickle-fork" layout, prompting Bluebird's early comparison to a blue lobster. It was very advanced, and remained the only successful jet-boat until well into the 1960s.
The name "K7" was derived from its Lloyd's unlimited rating registration. It was carried on a prominent circular badge on its sponsons, underneath an infinity symbol.
Read more about this topic: Bluebird K7
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