Jet on the Water

The sun hung in a cloudless sky over England's Lake District. A failing breeze made halfhearted ripples on the sleek surface of Ullswater. Then, just before noon, the word came: "Conditions favorable.'' Donald Campbell, 34, quit his chess game and raced to the lakeside boathouse. where his jet-propelled Bluebird floated like a great, shiny bullet on twin pontoons. If luck rode with him and the Bluebird held together, Don Campbell was on his way to get back the speed record once held by his father, the late Sir Malcolm Campbell (141.74 m.p.h.), and won in 1952 by Seattle's Stanley Sayres and his propeller-driven hydroplane Slo-Mo-Shun IV (178.497 m.p.h.).

Campbell strapped on his light-blue life jacket and wedged himself into the Bluebird's cockpit. The 4,000-h.p. turbojet whined into life. Once he was lined up on his marker buoy. Campbell widened out on his foot throttle. Spray arched from her stern as the Bluebird rose on her floats and shot toward the end of the lake five miles away. Her jet roar thundered through the nearby hills. Seconds later, Campbell was ready to refuel for the run back.

Again he aimed the Bluebird. Almost before it started the whole performance was over. Back at his base, Campbell climbed from the Bluebird's cockpit and grimaced with pain; an old back injury had been aggravated by his bouncing, high-speed ride. He shuffled to a nearby crane, held on to its hook, and called out, "I want to stretch my back." The crane operator hoisted him a foot off the ground, let him hang for a few moments and then lowered him gently to earth. After that, he joined his wife and Lady Campbell to wait for the official word.

Moments later, the dockers flashed the news: on his outbound run he averaged 215.08 m.p.h. over the measured kilometer; homebound, he did 189.57 m.p.h. --for an official average of 202.32 mph Said Campbell quietly: "Bluebird was not all out by a very long way. She ought to be able to go quite a bit faster."

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