Slim dusty spirit of australia hydroplane
SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA – Works – collections.sea.museum/...
Slim dusty spirit of australia hydroplane
Spirit of Australia
Australian jet boat
Spirit of Australia is a wooden speed boat built in a Sydney backyard, by Ken Warby, that broke and set the world water speed record on 8 October 1978.[1][2][3]
The record and boat
On 8 October 1978, Ken Warby rode the Spirit of Australia on the Tumut River near the Blowering Dam in Australia on opposite direction runs of 492.813 km/h (306.220 mph; 266.098 kn) and 529.412 km/h (328.961 mph; 285.860 kn),[4] for an official record of 511.11 km/h (317.59 mph; 275.98 kn),[5][6] with a peak speed of 555 km/h (345 mph; 300 kn).[4] It was powered by a Westinghouse J34jet engine.
The engine was developed by the Westinghouse Electric Company in the late 1940s and was used for jet fighters and other aircraft. Spirit of Australia is displayed permanently at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling H