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Nelson firm plays part in Bluebird history
A MASTERFUL piece of engineering excellence was unveiled by a Nelson firm in the presence of a legendary speed ace's daughter, Gina Campbell.
For the past nine months, PDS Engineering, of Cliffe Street, has been working to restore Bluebird's eight-metre frame, using parts rescued from the bed of Coniston Water, Cumbria, in 2001.
It is 40 years since the ill-fated record attempt which saw Donald Campbell's jet-powered Bluebird K7 craft lose control on the second leg of his 300 m.p.h. challenge.
He had been trying to break his own record of 267 m.p.h. which he set in Australia in 1964.
The tangled wreckage, as well as Donald Campbell's remains, was discovered by divers testing underwater cameras 34 years after the accident.
His daughter, herself a former waterspeed champion, who was 17 when her father died, has since vowed to have the boat restored and get it on to the water again.
She said: "It has been my desire all along, ever since Bluebird was found, to see it rebuilt and back on the water.
"This is a very important milestone in the road to that aim.
"To think that when they brought it up a few people wanted to purchase it and put it on display as a wreck, but I never wanted that to happen.
"It is hard to believe that the frame of the boat is now exactly as it was when it was built all those years ago."
Don't miss this week's Nelson Leader to find out more about how a Nelson firm is playing its part in history.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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