Ken Warby fuelling up SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA
Photographer
David Watson
(deceased)
Date1976
Object numberANMS0532[227]
NameNegative
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Tumut and Adelong Times
DescriptionKen Warby puts fuel into SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA.
Warby installed a J34 Westinghouse jet engine into SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA which had two fuel tanks and a 320 litre fuel capacity. Each tank of fuel weighed 136 kilos and were refilled on the lake at the end of each run.
In 1977 Warby cracked a fuel tank duriung a run in SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA. He still managed to break the Australian record running the vessel on only half of the fuel capacity and managed a speed of 245.8 mph.HistoryCyril Arnold, a marketing executive at Shell, had been introduced to Ken Warby in early 1975 by Graeme Andrews. Arnold saw the same potential that Andrew's saw in Warby and Shell soon became Warby's first sponsor.
Through Shell, Arnold managed to secure free fuel, accommodation assistance and typing and copying facilities for Warby. Considering the fact that Warby was still a self-funded operation, this was no small gesture on Arnold's part. He was with Warby and film maker Rob McCauley in 1975 when they first went to Tumut to select the location for Warby's first record run.
Although Warby had used Shell products in his record runs and Shell had been a long term sponsor for Warby, it was difficult for Shell to promote Warby to the wider public, even after he set a new world water speed record. Arnold believed it was due to the nature of the specific jet products SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA used that could not garner further public interest in what Warby had achieved.
SignificanceAlthough SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA ran on the water, it was propelled by a J34 Westinghouse jet engine. This saw high costs due to the jet fuel and oil that the boat needed. Shell's early sponsorship of Warby was a significant gesture for a project that had been completely self-funded until then.
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