MISHAP TO BLUEBIRD

Taranaki Daily News, 4 March 1935, Page 7

MISHAP TO BLUEBIRD

SPEED RECORD ATTEMPT ENGINE COWLING RIPPED AWAY. DRIVER HAS NARROW ESCAPE. FUMES POUR INTO COCKPIT. By ’ Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Rec. 7 p.m. Daytona Beach, March 2. Experts believe Sir Malcom. Campbell had 300 miles an hour at his mercy when the cowling broke loose. He was speeding at 233 miles an hour with his foot on the floor and little more than a mile from the middle of the course. The Bluebird was thundering beautifully when the heat from the exhaust pipes melted the blue enamelled motor covering and the wind ripped it loose. Exhaust flames poured into the cockpit. The heat was so great that Sir Malcolm Campbell said his first thought was “My God! I’m on fire.” The car swerved and he fought for control. It crossed a black oil streak laid down on the course for guidance and the tyres threw oil-soaked sand into his face. “It was the closest squeak I ever had,” he said. “I hope I’m never so close again. I must have been doing 250 miles an hour and the Bluebird was picking up marvellously. The fumes were so bad that I could scarcely .breathe."

Sir Malcolm cut the motors down and went through the measured mile on the south run, always his fastest, at 188.186 miles an hour, and turned the car at the south end, mechanics bolting back the heat-twisted cowl.

“I knew I had no chance for any kind of speed,” said Sir Malcolm, “but the crowd expected a show and I thought I should do my part.” He started back, doing 208.212 miles in the measured mile. The Bluebird was roaring again when the left side of the cowling, now white hot, collapsed and he was in the same desperate situation again. He cut the motors down as the fumes poured in. The best average on any. one mile was 205.363 miles. The car rode well/ Sir Malcolm said, but the beach was so rough that he would have been thrown out if he had not been strapped in. “I’m deaf and ache all over,” he said, “but the Bluebird will be ready to-morrow. The motors were perfect to-day.”