How fast did donald campbell go

That wipe-out proved the turning point, though. Naturally enough, Donald wanted a crack at the land-speed record too, though his start was anything but promising. It took some time for him to recuperate, but two years later he was ready to try again, with a rebuilt and improved CN7, at Lake Eyre salt flats in Australia. Fate had other ideas, however: after nine years of drought, the rains came to Lake Eyre just after Donald had started on some trial runs.

The attempt was postponed. To add insult to injury, back in the States on 5 August , Craig Breedlove drove his jet-car Spirt of America to an unprecedented By , Donald Campbell was ready to give it another go. Despite unfavourable damp conditions, on 17 July he recorded an average speed of Moreover, his speed was actually less than that attained by Craig Breedlove the previous year. In July he smashed the land speed record at Lake Eyre salt flats in Australia, recording a speed of He became the first and only person to set both records in a single calendar year.

After his body was recovered from Coniston on May 28 , a funeral service was held for Campbell. He was buried in Coniston Cemetery on September 12 after his coffin was carried down the lake - following the route his boat took - one last time.

A DNA test was carried out on his body, still wearing blue overalls, and he matched with daughter Gina. His funeral was attended by widow Tonia, Gina and other family members, his former team and admirers.

His sister Jean Wales had been against the idea of recovering his body as he had requested that if something went wrong "Skipper and boat stay together". Bluebird K7 was given to the Ruskin Museum in Coniston by daughter Gina in , where it is being rebuilt to fully working condition so it can be taken out on the lake one last time.

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Click here to upload yours. Donald Campbell is still the only person to hold both land and water speed records at the same time. And, although he is the last British man to break the world record, in it passed to Australia when Ken Warby reached a speed of Explore the BBC.

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