"his peak speed as measured on a radar gun was approximately 552 km/h (345 mph). Warby's record still stands . There have only been two official attempts to break it, both resulting in the death of the driver. Lee Taylor tried to get the record back in 1980. Inspired by the land speed record cars ""Blue Flame"" and ""Budweiser Rocket"", Taylor built a rocket-powered boat, ""Discovery II"". The long craft was a reverse three-point design, similar to John Cobb's ""Crusader"", albeit of much greater length. Originally Taylor tested the boat on Walker Lake in Nevada but his backers demanded a"
"age of 52 on 29 September 1952 whilst attempting to break the world Water Speed Record at Loch Ness in Scotland, piloting the jet engine-powered speedboat ""Crusader"" at a speed in excess of . During the run the speedboat hit an unexplained wake in the water and disintegrated about Cobb, killing him instantly. His body, which had been thrown 50 yards beyond the wreckage by the vehicle's stalled momentum, was recovered from the loch and conveyed back to his home county of Surrey, where it was buried in the graveyard of Christ Church, Esher. A memorial was subsequently erected on"
"Speed Record at Bonneville on 15 September 1938 by achieving 350 miles per hour. He broke it twice more at the same site, on 23 August 1939 achieving 369 miles per hour, and without this being beaten, he raised the record to 394 miles per hour in 1947. During the World War 2 he served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force, and between 1943 and 1945 in the Air Transport Auxiliary, being demobilized with the rank of Group Captain. He made an (uncredited) appearance in the wartime propaganda film ""Target for Tonight"" (1941). Cobb was killed at the"
"Nolan White Nolan White (26 February 1931 – 20 October 2002) was one of the few people to pilot a wheel-driven piston engined vehicle in an official sanctioned run in excess of 400 MPH. He broke the 400 MPH barrier at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September 1990, achieving the mark with the average of the required two direction run completed within one hour. Nolan died on October 20, 2002 at the age of 71 in Salt Lake City after being injured in an accident at the speed flats when his parachute failed after clocking a one-mile run at 422"
"MPH. Nolan White Nolan White (26 February 1931 – 20 October 2002) was one of the few people to pilot a wheel-driven piston engined vehicle in an official sanctioned run in excess of 400 MPH. He broke the 400 MPH barrier at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September 1990, achieving the mark with the average of the required two direction run completed within one hour. Nolan died on October 20, 2002 at the age of 71 in Salt Lake City after being injured in an accident at the speed flats when his parachute failed after clocking a one-mile run at"
"Sir Henry Segrave's twin-engined water speed record boat ""Miss England II"", this craft being ready for trials on Windermere by June 1930. On Friday 13 June, Segrave was fatally injured and a Rolls-Royce technical advisor, Victor Halliwell, was killed when ""Miss England II"" capsized at high speed after possibly hitting a log. Shortly before his death Segrave learnt that he had set a new water speed record of just under 100 mph (160 km/h). On 18 July 1932, Kaye Don set a new world water speed record of on Loch Lomond in a new boat, ""Miss England III"", which also"
"of Fame of America in 2003. Ted Jones (hydroplanes) Tudor Owen (""Ted"") Jones (died January 9, 2000) was a hydroplane designer and builder. One of his boats, the Slo-Mo-Shun IV, won the 1950 Gold Cup, and set a water speed record (160.323 mph) in Lake Washington, off Seattle (USA)'s Sand Point, on June 26, 1950, breaking the previous (10+ year-old) record (141.740 mph) by almost 20 mph. He also designed several other unlimited hydroplanes that won the APBA Challenge Cup. His son, Ron Jones, Sr., and grandson Ron Jones, Jr. both also had distinguished careers with unlimited hydroplane racing. He"
"Lonnie Spurrier Lonnie Vernon ""Lon"" Spurrier (May 27, 1932 – June 23, 2015) was an American former middle-distance runner who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics and set the world's record in the half-mile in 1955. Spurrier was born on May 27, 1932 in the rural farming community of Douglas County, Missouri. He was one of six children of John and Golda Spurrier, who migrated to the Central Valley of California during the Dust Bowl, eventually settling in the agricultural town of Delano, about a half-hour north of Bakersfield. Following in the footsteps of his two older brothers, he loved"
"making his home in the East Bay. Lonnie Spurrier Lonnie Vernon ""Lon"" Spurrier (May 27, 1932 – June 23, 2015) was an American former middle-distance runner who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics and set the world's record in the half-mile in 1955. Spurrier was born on May 27, 1932 in the rural farming community of Douglas County, Missouri. He was one of six children of John and Golda Spurrier, who migrated to the Central Valley of California during the Dust Bowl, eventually settling in the agricultural town of Delano, about a half-hour north of Bakersfield. Following in the footsteps"
"Henry Segrave Sir Henry O'Neil de Hane Segrave (22 September 1896 – 13 June 1930) was an early British pioneer in land speed and water speed records. Segrave, who set three land and one water record, was the first person to hold both titles simultaneously and the first person to travel at over in a land vehicle. He died in an accident in 1930 shortly after setting a new world water speed record on Windermere in the Lake District, England. The Segrave Trophy was established to commemorate his life. Segrave, who was a British national, was born on 22 September"
"157mph. K7 was exhibited at the Bute Highland games on 11 August 2011 and participated in the massed pipe band procession through the town of Rothesay. Donald Campbell Donald Malcolm Campbell, (23 March 19214 January 1967) was a British speed record breaker who broke eight absolute world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s. He remains the only person to set both world land and water speed records in the same year (1964). He died during a water speed record attempt at Coniston Water in the Lake District, England. Donald Campbell was born at Canbury"
"President Dennis Bassano on the remote dry lake of Smith Creek in Central Nevada. Over 400 people from 16 countries spent a week based on the remote lake bed at 6300 ft where many of the ""legends"" of the sport including the current world speed record holder Richard Jenkins had gathered. Double Olympic Gold medal sailor Shirley Robertson participated in the Championship accompanied by a film crew from the CNN Mainsail programme who produced a TV record of the event. After devoting 10 years to the project, British engineer Richard Jenkins broke the land speed record for a wind-powered craft."
"Donald Campbell Donald Malcolm Campbell, (23 March 19214 January 1967) was a British speed record breaker who broke eight absolute world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s. He remains the only person to set both world land and water speed records in the same year (1964). He died during a water speed record attempt at Coniston Water in the Lake District, England. Donald Campbell was born at Canbury House, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, the son of Malcolm, later Sir Malcolm Campbell, holder of 13 world speed records in the 1920s and 1930s in the"
"Hall of Fame in 1998. Rollie Free Roland ""Rollie"" Free (November 18, 1900 – October 11, 1984) was a motorcycle racer best known for breaking the American motorcycle land speed record in 1948 on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. The picture of Free, prone and wearing a bathing suit, has been described as the most famous picture in motorcycling. After an early career in motorcycle retail, Free became a regional racer of the 1920s and 30’s on Indian motorcycles. In 1923, Free tried out for his first national motorcycle race, the 100-Mile National Championships on the board track in Kansas"
"Lou Jones (athlete) Louis Woodard ""Lou"" Jones (January 15, 1932 – February 3, 2006) was an American athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 4x400 m relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Born in New Rochelle, New York, Jones graduated from Manhattan College in 1954. He won the 400 m at the 1955 Pan-American Games, where he set a new world record of 45.4. He was also a member of the gold medal winning American 4x400 m relay team. Just four months before the Melbourne Olympics, Jones broke his own 400 m world record, clocking 45.2 at the Los"
"record and the men's record at a speed of . In the series finale episode of ""Mad Men"", Donald Draper drives a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS muscle car in the races at Bonneville Speedway. Bonneville Speedway Bonneville Speedway (also known as the Bonneville Salt Flats Race Track) is an area of the Bonneville Salt Flats northeast of Wendover, Utah, that is marked out for motor sports. It is particularly noted as the venue for numerous land speed records. The Bonneville Salt Flats Race Track is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The salt flats were first used for"
"Rolland ""Rollie"" Free (18 November 1900 – 11 October 1984) was a motorcycle racer best known for breaking the US motorcycle land speed record in 1948 on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah on a Vincent Black Lightning. The picture of Free, prone and wearing a bathing suit, has been described as the most famous picture in motorcycling, and Russell Wright won another World Land Speed Record at Swannanoa with a Vincent HRD motorcycle in 1955 at . The 500 cc Meteor and Comet singles were introduced, along with a 500 cc racer, the Vincent Grey Flash. The Grey Flash racer"
"Rollie Free Roland ""Rollie"" Free (November 18, 1900 – October 11, 1984) was a motorcycle racer best known for breaking the American motorcycle land speed record in 1948 on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. The picture of Free, prone and wearing a bathing suit, has been described as the most famous picture in motorcycling. After an early career in motorcycle retail, Free became a regional racer of the 1920s and 30’s on Indian motorcycles. In 1923, Free tried out for his first national motorcycle race, the 100-Mile National Championships on the board track in Kansas City, but did not qualify."
"purpose-built turbojet Hydroplane, ""Crusader"", with a target speed of over , and began trials on Loch Ness in autumn 1952. Cobb was killed later that year, when Crusader broke up, during an attempt on the record. Campbell was devastated at Cobb's loss, but he resolved to build a new Bluebird boat to bring the WSR back to Britain. In early 1953, Campbell began development of his own advanced all-metal jet-powered ""Bluebird K7"" hydroplane to challenge the record, by now held by the American prop rider hydroplane Slo-Mo-Shun IV.[1] Designed by Ken and Lew Norris, the K7 was a steel framed,"
"the Bonneville Salt Flats, attempting to set world speed records. During his ten visits to the salt flats, he set three speed records, one of which still stands. His efforts, and success, are the basis of the motion picture ""The World's Fastest Indian"" (2005), starring Anthony Hopkins, and an earlier 1971 short documentary film ""Burt Munro: Offerings to the God of Speed"", both directed by Roger Donaldson. Munro was born in 1899 in Invercargill. His twin sister died at birth and Munro grew up on a farm in Edendale, east of Invercargill. Munro's interest in speed began at an early"
"Bonneville Speedway Bonneville Speedway (also known as the Bonneville Salt Flats Race Track) is an area of the Bonneville Salt Flats northeast of Wendover, Utah, that is marked out for motor sports. It is particularly noted as the venue for numerous land speed records. The Bonneville Salt Flats Race Track is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The salt flats were first used for motor sports in 1912, but did not become truly popular until the 1930s when Ab Jenkins and Sir Malcolm Campbell competed to set land speed records. A reduction of available racing surface and salt"
"per hour () in ""Blue Bird K4"". Between 1956 and 1959 Sir Malcolm's son Donald Campbell set four successive records on the lake in ""Bluebird K7"", a hydroplane. In 1966 Donald Campbell decided that he needed to exceed 300 miles per hour (483 km/h) in order to retain the record. On 4 January 1967, he achieved a top speed of over 320 miles per hour () in ""Bluebird K7"" on the return leg of a record-breaking attempt. He then lost control of ""Bluebird"", which somersaulted and crashed, sinking rapidly. Campbell was killed instantly on impact when decapitated by the K7's"
"Lee Bible Lee Bible (May 27, 1887 March 13, 1929) was an American garage operator and a racing-car driver. He was killed attempting to break the land-speed record on March 13, 1929, at Ormond Beach, Florida. He was born Conway Lee Bible on a farm near Midway, Tennessee. On March 11, British driver Major Henry O. D. Segrave had set the land-speed record of in his ""Golden Arrow"", beating the old record held by Ray Keech, who had set the record in the ""Triplex Special"". Jim White, owner of the ""Special"", wanted the title to come back to the United"
"of 1951. Thomas G. W. Settle Thomas Greenhow Williams ""Tex"" Settle (born November 4, 1895 in Washington, D.C. – died April 28, 1980, Bethesda, Maryland) was an officer of the United States Navy who on November 20, 1933, together with Army major Chester L. Fordney, set a world altitude record in the ""Century of Progress"" stratospheric balloon. An experienced balloonist, long-time flight instructor, and officer on the airships and , Settle won the Litchfield Trophy in 1929 and 1931, the International Gordon Bennett Race in 1932, the Harmon Aeronaut Trophy for 1933, and the Harmon National Trophy for 1932 and"
"speed of . On the third run over the course, off Belle Grange, the boat capsized. Segrave's mechanic, Victor Helliwell drowned, but Segrave was rescued by support boats. He died a short time later of his injuries. Segrave was one of the few people in history who have held the world land speed record and water speed record simultaneously. Racer Norman Buckley set several world water speed records on Windermere in the 1950s. For many years, powerboating and water-skiing have been popular activities on the lake. In March 2000, the Lake District National Park Authority controversially introduced a bylaw setting"
"Ted Jones (hydroplanes) Tudor Owen (""Ted"") Jones (died January 9, 2000) was a hydroplane designer and builder. One of his boats, the Slo-Mo-Shun IV, won the 1950 Gold Cup, and set a water speed record (160.323 mph) in Lake Washington, off Seattle (USA)'s Sand Point, on June 26, 1950, breaking the previous (10+ year-old) record (141.740 mph) by almost 20 mph. He also designed several other unlimited hydroplanes that won the APBA Challenge Cup. His son, Ron Jones, Sr., and grandson Ron Jones, Jr. both also had distinguished careers with unlimited hydroplane racing. He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall"
"get more oil. Keech led the rest of the race. Keech died sixteen days after his victory at Indianapolis in a racing accident at the Altoona 200-Mile Race in Tipton, Pennsylvania on June 15, 1929. He was buried at the Hephzibah cemetery in Modena, Pennsylvania in Chester County. Ray Keech Charles Raymond Keech (born May 1, 1900 in Coatesville, Pennsylvania - June 15, 1929) was a board track and brick track racer in the 1920s. He is best remembered for winning the 1929 Indianapolis 500, and for setting a land speed record. Keech set the land speed record of 207.55"
"in 2012 after eight years of service. Gary Gabelich Gary Gabelich (Croatian ""Gabelić""; August 29, 1940 – January 26, 1984) was an American motorsport driver who set the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Land Speed Record (LSR) with the rocket car Blue Flame on October 23, 1970, on a dry lake bed at Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah. Gary Gabelich was born 29 August 1940 and was raised in southern California and attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School. He grew up during the height of the Southern California race scene and became friends with many famous racers of the"
"Mickey Thompson Marion Lee ""Mickey"" Thompson (December 7, 1928March 16, 1988) was an American auto racing builder and promoter. A hot rodder since his youth, Thompson increasingly pursued land speed records in his late 20s and early 30s. He achieved international fame in 1960, when he became the first American to break the 400-mph barrier, driving his ""Challenger 1"" to a one-way top speed of 406.60 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats and surpassing John Cobb's one-way world record mark of 402 mph. Thompson then turned to racing, winning many track and dragster championships. In the 1960s, he also entered"
"He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1990. Garfield Wood Garfield Arthur ""Gar"" Wood (December 4, 1880 – June 19, 1971) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and championship motorboat builder and racer who held the world water speed record on several occasions. He was the first man to travel over 100 miles per hour on water. Gar Wood was born on December 4, 1880 in Mapleton, Iowa, into a family of 13 children. His father was a ferryboat operator on Lake Osakis, Minnesota, and Gar worked on boats from an early age. In 1911, at"
", despite shredding a tire in the process. Ultimately it was Breedlove, immortalized by the Beach Boys in the song ""Spirit of America"", who emerged victorious as he posted a speed of on 15 November 1965. In 1970, Gary Gabelich piloted the rocket-powered Blue Flame to a new world record at Bonneville with a speed of . In 1983, this record was eclipsed by Thrust2, which was powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon jet engine and driven by Richard Noble to a speed of . In 1997, the world land speed record was bested once more by ThrustSSC, which achieved a"
"a World record in men's 500 metres shortly before the 1936 winter Olympics and made the time of 42.4 seconds and 32nd in Men's 1500 metres. Allan Potts Allan W. Potts (May 14, 1904 – November 5, 1952) was an American National Indoor and Outdoor Champion speed skater who competed in the 1932 Winter Olympics and in the 1936 Winter Olympics. Inducted May 18, 1967 at Detroit, Michigan into The National Speedskating Hall of Fame and also once known as The Fastest Human. He was born in Brooklyn and died in New York City. In 1932 he participated in the"
"219.245 km/h, breaking the previous women's world record of 214.723 km/h. Speed skiing at the 1992 Winter Olympics Speed skiing was a demonstration sport at the 1992 Winter Olympics. The venue was in Les Arcs, about 60 km from the host city Albertville. Michael Prufer, a 31-year-old medical doctor from Savoie, improved his own 1988 world record by 5.558 km/h. Philippe Goitschel, the nephew of French ski champion Marielle Goitschel, was second and the American Jeffrey Hamilton was third. The competition was, however, marred by the death of Nicolas Bochatay from Switzerland, who died while free skiing the morning of"