The sight of Donald Campbell’s speedboat Bluebird K7 powering along the surface of Loch Fad off the Isle of Bute last week – albeit at a mere 150mph, or half of the speed at which it was designed to travel – evoked a time when those who broke speed records could claim a degree of fame matching that of a world heavyweight boxing champion. Henry Segrave, George Eyston, J G Parry Thomas, John Cobb and Malcolm Campbell, Donald’s father, were household names in the middle of the last century, fulfilling a mission not only to compete against each other but to prove the supremacy of British technology. And, quite often, to die as a result.
The risk involved in attempting such feats on land and water was part of the appeal to the public imagination. It belonged to a culture that embraced adventurers who competed with each other to plant flags on the North and South Poles, to fly over the Himalayas or to stand on the summit of Everest.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2KQnmU2
