LAND SPEED RECORD.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20789, 24 February 1933, Page 11

LAND SPEED RECORD.

272 MILES AN HO#R. SIR MALCOLM TRIUMPH. DIFFICULT CONDITIONS AT DAYTONA. (UHII'ED PBES3 A-SSOCUTION— BT BDECTWO TEI.BGaA.PH— COPYRIGHT.) N DAYTONA BEACH (Florida), Feb. 22. Sir Malcolm Campbell broke the world's land speed record at Daytona to-day with a speed of 273.556 miles an hour. He attainod Ihis astonishing record on his first official run. Despite the fact that visibility was not good, he was timed over the ofneially-mcasured mile in 13.16 seconds. In his second run he reached 270.676 miles an hour, giving an average of 272.108 miles an hour for the new record. He thus -exceeded by 18.1 miles an hour his old record of 253.968 miles an hour. He made the second run in 13.30 seconds, the average time being 13.23 seconds. It was a thrilling, breath-taking dash over the speedway of hard-packed sand. At the same time as he set the mile record, Sir Malcolm Campbell sot a new mark of 271.636 miles an hour over one kilometre, for which his previous record was 251.340 miles an, hour. The first run waß done in 8.18 seconds for a speed of 271.802 miles an hour. The second run was made in 8.24 seconds, for a speed of 271.472 miles an hour. Though visibility was not good, Sir Malcolm Campbell, who had been forced to delay his record attempt for two weeks because of unfavourable conditions, decided to make the trials on Wednesday after the beach had improved Tather than risk a further postponement. He also disliked disappointing the crowd of 50,000. He-doubted his ability to break the record with the beach in the condition it was. Taking a four-mile Start he quickly threw the car into high gear, pushed, the acceleratot of the 12-cylinder aeroplane motor toward the floorboard, and was off on a terrific burst of speed. Bapidly ■raining momentum, the car approached Sp spied as it neared the official* measured mile, and, m only a few seconds, streaked past; the timmg tower to disappear in the light haze at the south end of the course. Because visibility was so poor the spectators at the timing stand were unable to see the machine until it was only i a j£p£T«t>.f the cockpit Sir Malcolm Campbell hastily »«»«**;.*£• car, gave the officials the word that Je wis ready to start the second run, and £ an instant was off again on another mad dash north. „*„ialg In computing the spaed the averaged the elapsed time for the two trials and divided that average, into ?60> or the number of seconds a an hour! explaining that" that Procedure was the most accurate system todrtjr, mine the average;speed in miles an h °s[; Malcolm Campbell said: It was the worst ride I ever had » my M* CONDITIONS VERY BAD. DRIVER'S INJURED ARM. POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER ATTEMPT. DAYTONA, February 28. As he had sprained his arm last week when making repairs to the Blue Bud, Sir Malcolm Campbell was forced to drive with one arm, he said after the rocord-broaking run. "The beach was so rough," he said, "that on Several occasions I thought 1 was gone. H I bad not been able to i control,the car I should have landed I either in the sand dunes or the ocean. I "On my first run my tachometer, or engine revolution counter, showed that J. ffild have, been doing 33.0 miles an hour, but because the course wasi so rough my wheels were spinning.almost constantly, and my actual forward speed was greatly reduced. "I did not encounter any mist on my windshield as I had expected, l»t *wbility was very bad. First I was heading for the sand dunes, and the next instant I was heading for the sea. ■ ine cat was snaking all over the course. "From the very start my arm was hurting mo badly. In fact, it wasi all I could do to shift the gears. Then, when I got up to a fairly good speed, I Jbumped along ovejr the course like a pea in a pod. I did not put my foot down hard oft the accelerator until i had almost reached the measured mile, because the car would not have stayed under control at auch a high speed with the beach as bumpy a* it was. Sea shells strewn on the course cut the Blue fiird's tyres badly, especially on. the rear driving tyres, the being stripped in some spots down tc the fabric. Several cutß, as if inflicted by a knife, were a quarter of an incfi deep. ' "On both my runs," Sir Malcolm Campbell continued, "there were timet when I could see no distance whatevei ahead. I just had to guess and trust to luck. I was bothered by sand kicked up into my face, and aIBO by the strong fumes from the motor. "The ear behaved magnificently under terrible conditions, but I certainly had a tough time keeping it from running, all over the beach, Frankly it was the roughest ride I have ever had, and I will multiply that 50 times. , "All in alii though, the old car could have done much better if it had bottol conditions. If they had been better 1 am confident I would have set a much higher record." He laughingly characterised hit achievement as merely a high-speed test run, and said he was undecidec whether to make another try to rais< the record still higher before returning to England. CANADIAN CONGRATULATIONS fßeceived February 33, 10.20 p.m.) OTTAWA, February 22. Canada's congratulations to Sir Mai tolm Campbell on. bis speed record havi been extended by Mr E, B. Bennett lh» Prim* MJuijfUjr, vh« fe»* *«»* %<

following telegram: "May 1, on b&gif of tha Government of Cataada, aw* 1 hearty congratulations on your magnificent achievement. All Cfflaadiata* w* proud of your record, initiative, a*td - courage." " • AN AMAZIN& GML EXTREMELY HIGH POWBR *PO WffIGHY RATIO. Sir Maleolm Campbell's decision to mate another attempt on. th» world*'* land speed record, which he already held, -was prompted by the news tfcat an American attack ou the r«eord would be made soon. Writing ki Ifc« "Field" recently, he said: "With th« experience I gained during by successful attempts on the record in 1831 and 1932, I realised that a speed <*f 300 miles an hour was possible; provided that a great deal more bo»#power was available." The speed the Blue Bird in. would attain had previously been a matter of theoretical calculation, and it was dimcult to hazard a guess as to how much faster Campbell could travel than ©a the occasion of his successful drive (not under the best of beach condition*), when last year he raised his own record moan speed from 245.73 miles an how to 253.968 miles an hour (14.17 »•" onds a mile) on the same speedway. It must be remembered that the ninemile course, with the measured mil* in the centre, at Daytona Beach, has its speed limitations, inasmuch that th« machine requires many miles in which to work up to its maximum speed, ana almost an equal distance to puil up in. The Halifax river at one end of tfc* course definitely limits the get-aw»y and also presents an element of danger in bringing to a stop a 4J-ton projects* hurtling along at over four miles a mill* ate. . Sir Malcolm on this occasion had a* his command nearly 1000 horse-pow# more than he had when he established the existing figures, and the 2350 horsepower Bolls-Eoyce Schneider type aer» engine he used is the finest and sw*t efficient power unit the world aaa produced.

It has 1? cylinders, in two band* of six, Y-wiae. The bore is 164.4 miKimclrcs, and stroke 167.6 miHimettaa, giving a cubic capacity of 36,582 «.«. The engine is supercharged and weigh* about 16301b, giving a power-weigjat ratio of 1 h.p. for every lloss of metal. At 3200 revolutions a minute it develops 2350 b.h.p., and has been ben.ashtested for au hour with, full ©pea throttle. It is amazing that just on 200 horse-power can be obtained from each six inch cylinder. When it M under full throttle there is a strew of about nine tons on the main eoatro crankshaft bearing alone. The sngfcM ■ has six carburettors, and consume* doped fuel at the rate of three gallon* a minute, which is quieter than one caa empty a two-gallon tin of petto) lata the tank of an ordinary eat. The Waaelbaae of Blue Bird is now 13ft Sift, 4iffi« the overall length of the etreamiutttft body 27ft. Tha front wheel track !»' sft 3in, and the A track of the back whoels sft, the whole machine weigh- ' ing about 4§ tons. The ratio of power t« the total weight of Blue Bird ia 1 h.p. to 4.281b, a remarkable figure, which provided food for thought as to low the machine would hold the beach under, full throttle. As usual, tyres played a vital jNkrt in the great enterprise, for it wa» asking a comparatively few poandis «f cotton and rubber (Oach pair of 3&h»lop covers weighs approximately 3Spb) - to withstand extraordinary stresses *ikl ' heatj fo transmit 2350 horse-powttr |i»4 provide the traction to propel. a '■#s- - machine at the phenomenal 3|Mjt6il <rf nearly five miles a mijante. As the cylinder blocks partially <s*■ scurod the forward vision, it' Ufa* necessary for the driver to look "kf: i tween the two banks of cyKfid«rs» which are not directly in lib* irrffe driver's seat. SPEED ON LAM*., AMAZING PBOGBSSB. Only 35 yeare ago a Ifrftnefe drtvaa, Chasaoloap-Laubat, eet' th« ftwt wo*ia, f s speed record for a motor-car, over a Mlometre at 30.24 miles ait Jwraar."' This was not allowed to stand for teosi for next year. Jenatey totteh*4 faffl miles an hour. In 1903 E»arj 3?©rfi, \ then a struggling manufacturer to advertise his productions, jwfc *#'«• new record of 81.87 inilaa an Mtr." A | year later Higally reached tho spg** speed of 100 milea an koar. ' ■- The advance during tha next 9ft jsoiw was not spectacular,, for « Tsaaafrjf a* 1925 the present record-holder wt 4 new speed for competitors to fe*e* J lßitfc 150.766 miles, an hour. J. 6. VtoafThomfts took up the dlmll«Bg% and i» the same year drove at 170.634 mH«B aft hour. - Another racing driver who had a string of successes-on the traek, a*« road set-out after the absolute He was Captain H. O. ». Segrav©; *§* earned his knighthood wtiea be ptitati the 200 miles an hour fjgaw. / After thai. Sir Malcolm C&»pb«n Mi a new time, which Bay Seech, aa Asmrican, raised. Hia record waa Isftaftw by Sir Hoary Segrave,, .who ■ w*§ *W» holder of the record when he was kill** while setting a new water-speed weoffi. Since then Sir Malcolm Campbell ha* raised the record three timea. and *» this last occasion baa definitely 300 miles an hour—% speed which. «aa only been exceeded by the pilots of &• Schneider Trophy nigat. IMPROVEMENT IK INMA. STATEMENT BY MINISTER. {P»ETJtO J?U*SB A.SSOCIATSOJI—- Vf WUBeUtt** TSLEQEIPK—OOMEIOH7.) (Received February 33, 10JS0 p.a».) LONDON,. February **- In the House of Commons a motion by Brigadier-General Sir H. Ifcga-Crofft (Conservative), declaring that tfca ffiwt step towards self-government in InKis. should begin with the Provmees, sot with the Central <3overcnMHa* T if»s beaten by 287 votes to 42. Bar Eternal Hoare (Secretary of State for India) said that the Government's pmsitwsa was unchanged since the House in December, 1931, had overwhelmingly approved of its policy. Happily &« *t*t* of affairs in India had vastly improved. Meet a cold with Baxter* Lung Preserver. Save dayg of worrying an* Buffering. "Baxter's" never niam. famous for over (seventy years. At ft' l chemists and stores. Is 6d, 2s 6d. and -is 6d. • —1 SIMPLY CHARMING! It is the greatest of bobbies; to tuut your camera not only for outdoor work but also for indoor photography. Y*« can quicfclv become expert, and we will gladly tell you how. when you, feroi£ yiur next film tp as fcr pmtjne «*4 developing. Wnllacfl and fco., graphie Beal«T», High s*»w*. ' #»4 -