51. SPEED KING LAUNCHED ON MISSION NIGHTINGALE

What does the Donald Campbell hologram bring to the party:

Donald Campbell

Set world speed records on water and land.

Born 23 March, 1921 in Surrey, England.

Died 4 January, 1967 on Lake Coniston, England.

FACTS

☆Son of Sir Malcolm Campbell (d.1948) holder of 13 world speed records in the 1920’s and 1930’s in Bluebird cars and boats.

☆After his father’s death and aided by Sir Malcolm’s engineer, Leo Villa, he strove to set records on water and on land in Bluebirds.

☆In 1964 he became the only person to set both new land and water speed records in the same calendar year.

☆Broke 8 world speed records on water and land in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

☆Married 3 times.

☆Very superstitious. Always carried a teddy bear called Mr Whoppit with him in the cockpit on record attempts. Drew the Ace and Queen of Spades from a pack of cards the night before his death and remarked that that was what Mary Queen of Scots drew the night before she got ‘The chop’.

☆The Norris brothers designed a car, Bluebird-Proteus CN7, to achieve up to 500 mph in 1960. During trials at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA, Campbell lost control and crashed at 360 mph. He survived the fastest crash in history with a fractured skull. He had wrecked the most expensive car ever built. His car insurance premiums hit the roof, even with 5% discount for having Mr Whoppit on board.

☆Upon recovery he found a stretch of land in Australia, Lake Eyre. It hadn’t rained there for 9 years. In late-1962 the rebuilt Bluebird car was shipped to Australia. Then the rains came. By May, 1963, Lake Eyre was flooded. The attempt was abandoned and the superstitious Campbell became associated with bad luck.

☆In July, 1963, Craig Breedlove drove a jet car Spirit of America at 407 mph at Bonneville Salt Flats. Although it wasn’t an official world record, as the vehicle was not wheel driven, Breedlove was regarded as the fastest man on Earth.

☆In 1964, Campbell returned to Australia and set a new official world land speed record of 403 mph.

☆Campbell died in early-1967, after weeks of weather delays, attempting to become the first man to break the 300 mph barrier on water on Lake Coniston. He achieved 297 mph on the first run and was doing 310 mph on the second when Bluebird somersaulted and crashed into the lake. Campbell’s boat and body were not recovered until 2001, although Mr Whoppit was discovered floating on the surface of the lake soon after the crash.

Tactics

Donald Campbell possessed an enthusiasm for speed. The simple tactic of the Campbell hologram will be to transmit this passion to Florence Nightingale to the point where she abandons her desire to slow vehicles to a halt.

Test Missions:

1.Commanche Territory, 1840. Rated 2/5

The Donald Campbell hologram was sent to Comanche territory in the 1840s to warn them to get their tribes the Hell out of there quick before too many cowboys arrived. Instead, he persuaded the Comanche chief to stay and steal horses from the cowboys. As he wanted him to become an impressive 100 horsepower injun.

2. Kaiserslautern, Germany, 1862. Rated 1/5.

The Campbell hologram was sent to Germany in 1862 to encourage Georg Michael Pfaff to manufacture sewing machines to accelerate the production of shoes and clothing.

Unfortunately, just as he was about to approach Georg, he saw him cursing a black cat he nearly tripped over. Campbell immediately aborted the mission, considering it bad luck because a black cat had crossed his Pfaff.