Ken Warby and RAAF supporters
Photographer
David Watson
(deceased)
Date8 October 1978
Object numberANMS0532[070]
NameNegative
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Tumut and Adelong Times
DescriptionKen Warby sitting on top of SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA with RAAF apprentices who had worked on the boat and the J34 engine at the RAAF training base at Forest Hill, near Wagga Wagga.
HistoryAfter SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA set the world water speed record in 1977, Warby still wanted another another attempt the following year to break the 300 mph barrier - a personal challenge that he felt he could achieve in his boat. So too did the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
The RAAF proposed that Warby bring SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA to the training base at Forest Hill near Wagga Wagga. Here RAAF apprentices would work on the J34 engines and the boat itself in a hangar on the base which was the site of the only J34 engine test bed in Australia. By assuming responsibility of SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA and the engines, the RAAF had set a new tone to the record attempt. It became a more professional scenario and the apprentices were on hand to assist and celebrate with Warby at Blowering Dam.
SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA is an Australian designed and built jet-powered, wooden, 3-point hydroplane that has held the world water-speed record since 1977. Breaking both the 300 mph and 500 km/h barriers, SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA raised the world record to 511kph in 1978 at Blowering Dam near Tumut NSW.
Ken Warby, SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA's designer, builder and driver, achieved his world water-speed records on a shoestring budget. Warby built his hydroplane over two years in the backyard of his suburban Sydney home, using stringers, brackets, stock bits of timber, plywood, screws, epoxy and a military-surplus jet engine that cost $65. He eventually launched the boat in 1974.SignificanceAfter Ken Warby set his first world speed record in 1977 he became determined to better the time the following year. In this second attempt he had the offical assistance of the Royal Australian Air Force who tested and maintained the jet engine used on SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA.