Richeee Posted October 7 Report Share Posted October 7 Dropped into Beaulieu yesterday as they had a fleeting visit from BlueBird k7. A long but interesting read on the legal fight. Obviously this is 1 side of a complicated story. https://ruskinmuseum.com/bluebird-k7-a-timeline/ Not quite sure where i stand regarding the restoration. Mixed views. The Anthony Hopkins BBC film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 7 Report Share Posted October 7 thanks for that and the link just a few more screws and she will be looking good Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gully Posted October 7 Report Share Posted October 7 The legal fight has been desperately sad. Following the successful post-restoration runs on Loch Fad back in 2018 (see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkskuzoVYs4 ) the dispute between the Ruskin Museum and restorer over ownership and operations has left the Ruskin Museum with a machine lacking some key components. Essentially, the restorer has removed all items bought / created by them as part of the restoration, which includes the Bristol Orpheus engine. Ruskin Museum has acquired 2 or 3 replacement powerplants, but time will tell as to whether or not they ever undertake the promised occasional powered outings on Coniston. Indeed, it was the likelihood of Bluebird K7 becoming a static exhibit following its transfer to the Ruskin Museum that was at the heart of the dispute. Allegedly, the National Park Authority has not approved operation at the minimum speed required for the boat to aquaplane... Gully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 Looks a bit like a Henry Cole 'Restoration'. That would drive me up the walls until I had the 'proper' bolts all looking nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richeee Posted October 8 Author Report Share Posted October 8 As i said i am in mixed minds. Leave it where it was, just show as it was rediscovered or go for a full restoration. Just intetesting to see whilst it was in local vicinity. They were selling merchandise etc, and Gina was there as well promoting. As Gulley said Sad part of the story at present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 I've mentioned this before, it might have been on the old forum and someone told me what it was, it might have been Gully! When i was an apprentice I walked passed the backyard of a garage on the way to work. In the yard there was a lean to and a tarpaulin over something exotic. A couple of years in the tarp fell off revealing what I recognised to be Bluebird. It sat there in the rain till the end of my apprenticeship and some years later a local paper reported Bluebird had been "found". It was, must have been, an earlier version, but what it was doing in a garage backyard in Hounslow I've no idea. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 Bluebird was at the bottom of Coniston until found in 2001. When were you an apprentice, doug? There was a mockup made, in the 80s for a BBC dramtised documentary about Campbell, "Across the water". See https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1988/78/the-hand-of-fate/ could it have been that you saw? John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 a year after the accident we were walking the shores of Coniston water and came across a lot of rib and vertebrate we've found Donald !!!! a few more yards up the shore was the rest of the Sheep Oh well seemed a good idea at the time i was still running in my new Super Imp july 68 so we went up Hardknott for a blast instead Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 (edited) 2 hours ago, JohnD said: Bluebird was at the bottom of Coniston until found in 2001. When were you an apprentice, doug? Bluebird K7 was at the bottom of Coniston Water. I was an apprentice 1964 - 1970 so it wasn't the 1980 replica. From the Ruskin Museum web site "Malcolm’s first World Water Speed Record-breaking hydroplane was Blue Bird K3. Its faster successor was Bluebird K4. Two other hydroplanes had been registered in the ‘K’ class before Donald Campbell’s iconic Bluebird K7 began her legendary career." Further searching reveal K3 was restored at Filching Manor near Eastbourne in 2011. It appeared at Henley Regatta in 2015 and now lives in Switzerland. K4 is no more, but there is a replica at The Lakeland Motor Museum. Campbell used K3 in 1937/38 before moving on to K4. I deduce that it was most likely K3 under a tarpaulin in Hounslow. Now on to do the jobs I was supposed to do this morning! Doug Edited October 8 by dougbgt6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 (edited) Ah! So a previous Bluebird? Didn't think of that. Donald's, or Malcolm's? And, I now see that "Across the Wster" was the beginning of this thread! Edited October 8 by JohnD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gully Posted October 8 Report Share Posted October 8 33 minutes ago, JohnD said: Ah! So a previous Bluebird? Didn't think of that. Donald's, or Malcolm's? And, I now see that "Across the Wster" was the beginning of this thread! K3 was Sir Malcolm's boat - commissioned in 1937. Gully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark powell Posted Wednesday at 13:28 Report Share Posted Wednesday at 13:28 They brought K3 out for a run at Bewl Water in Sussex 7 years ago. Quite a turnout to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted Wednesday at 18:46 Report Share Posted Wednesday at 18:46 Wow! Thanks Mark, I think that's what I saw in the garage backyard in 1964, although in a sorry state. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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