Trivia

[The Spook]

Doc

I was there when Apache Cheif came apart. If I'm not mistaken in the same race a hydro had a peice of the timber from Apache penetrate the bottom of the hull, although I'm not sure of the identity of the hydro.

Next trivia question.

On the day that Donald Campbell died, what was the speed recorded on his first run through the kilo and what terminology was used to relay that information to him over the radio?

Spook

[Bob Vic]

The speed was 297 mph and I think the term Donald Campbell used on his radio was 'she's tramping'. Never heard the word used before or since.

There is an excellent web site devoted to ther restoration of Bluebird http://www.bluebirdproject.com/Bluebirdproject/ - be prepared to whileaway quite a lot of time here.

Bob

[Sunbeam11]

The word "tramping "or "tramp it" brings back a few memories Bob.....(late 70's, early80's)........we used to use that expresssion when you wanted someone to put the pedal to the metal or smoke the tyres. Also we use to fit specialy fabricated steel bars that were bolted underneath the leaf springs and were called Tramp Rods. They apparently limited the twisting and traction loss when you "tramped it". What they did or didnt do, dont matter.........having Tramp Rods fitted just looked cool and bluffed everyone in thinking you had horsepower..... It may have been a Ballarat thing.......

[bootlegger]

The word "tramping "or "tramp it" brings back a few memories Bob.....(late 70's, early80's)........we used to use that expresssion when you wanted someone to put the pedal to the metal or smoke the tyres. Also we used to fit specialy fabricated steel bars that were bolted to the diff and to the chassis and were called Tramp Rods. They apparently prevented the diff from twisting or rotating when you "tramped it". What they did or didnt do dont matter.........having Tramp Rods fitted just looked cool and bluffed everyone in thinking you had horsepower..... It may have been a Ballarat thing.......

No it wasnt a Ballarat thing. I had tramp rods on my first car. A HD Holden Station Wagon. I painted it bright Yellow with a bonnet scoop. 14inch tyres on the back and 13's up front. My Granmother made me a Brown velour roof linning and door trims for it. The front bucket seats came out of a car that was dumped across the road in the bush. I put a big cam in it and nothing else. In hindsight it must have looked terrible. After a short while I painted it white and got rid of it. God that was a long time ago.

[The Spook]

The Speed of 297 mph is correct, but what was the terminology that his crew used to relay that information to him over the radio?

The term "tramping" is also known as "sponson walking" when the hydro steps back and forth from one sponson to another as it runs across the top of the water. The choppier the water is, the more pronounced the sponson walking effect will be.

Spook

[Darren]

Not sure about the Doc "tramping" question but we could definitely start a topic
about our embarrassing wilder young years both water and road!

Darren

[Doc]

Darren,
You have been inhaling to much high octane over in S.A. Bob started the Tramping.
Doc.

[Bob Vic]

Good thing in hind sight that Bluebird was tramping and not 'pig rooting'. Where did that one come from Doc?

Come to think of it, a pig rooting hydro at 300 mph? I don't think so.

Bob

[Doc]

Bob,
I would say your thinking towards Bacon making, i would think towards nose flipping on water.
Doc.

[The Spook]

As it appears that no one wants to answer the question.

The answer is that the speed was relayed over the radio, to Donald after his first run as: Plus 47, the team were using 250 MPH as the base speed for the runs and 297 was, in their jargon, plus 47.


Spook