That's Flying!
Maker
The Sun
Date1978
Object number00004442
NameNewspaper clipping
MediumPaper, cardboard
DimensionsOverall: 457 x 450 mm, 0.1 kg
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Ken Warby
DescriptionThe front page of The Sun newspaper, Monday 9 October 1978 with the headline '...That's flying! Warby breaks the barrier'.
The page shows images of Ken Warby and his hydroplane SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA and the signatures of the 'WWBC support team'. There is a small hand drawn cartoon of then Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser saying 'Elections on page two, eh! Well done Ken!' (referring to the 7 October 1978 state election held in New South Wales).HistoryKen Warby, SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA's designer, builder and driver, achieved his world water-speed records on a shoestring budget. The boat was built over two years in the backyard of his suburban Sydney home, using stringers, brackets, stock bits of timber, plywood, screws and epoxy, and launched in 1974.
Warby first claimed the world record in 1977, taking his home-made hydroplane to a speed of 464.44 km/h and breaking American Lee Taylor's ten-year-old record of 458.98 km/h. But where Lee Taylor's record had cost close to $1 million in 1967, Warby built his boat in a suburban backyard with a military-surplus jet engine that cost $65. In 1978 he returned to Blowering Dam in the southern highlands of New South Wales and pushed his record to 511.11 km/h (317.68 m/h), where it still stands.
Warby was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in recognition of his achievement. More information about SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA's construction, configuration and condition can be found on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels www.anmm.gov.au/arhv.SignificanceThe media responded enthusiastically to the success of Ken Warby and SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA, it became an occasion of Australian pride that the world speed record was set by an Australian, in a home built hydroplane on the Blowering Dam at Tumut, New South Wales.
February 1979
12 November 1978
