The heart of any machine is its engine. So meet the aircraft that lost its heart to a boat! And not just any boat, but the vessel that is set to become Britain’s next holder of the World Water Speed Record. The Oliver Valves-sponsored hydroplane, Quicksilver, is under construction at Nottingham East Midlands Airport, and with speeds of up to 350mph being envisaged, it’s not surprising that aerospace technology is being harnessed.
Days when contenders for the World Water Speed Record were propeller-driven are long gone. Modern-era record holders have all been powered by jet engines, which are much more efficient. Quicksilver has the biggest and most powerful engine ever installed in a World Water Speed Record challenger. Its Rolls-Royce Spey Mk.101 turbofan develops 10,000 horsepower – more than a dozen Formula 1 racing cars running at full throttle.
The Spey Mk.101 engine was developed for the Buccaneer bomber – a sleek, swept-wing aircraft renowned for its scintillating low-level performance and immortalised as, “The last all-British strike aircraft”. Showing its commitment to the Spey, the Quicksilver team purchased a Buccaneer (pictured here) as part of its engine development programme.
The Buccaneer that has given its all to bring the WSR home
Selection of the Spey to power Quicksilver was a crucial design decision taken by the man who, much earlier in his career, co-designed Donald Campbell’s iconic Bluebird; Ken Norris. As Quicksilver’s chief designer, Norris felt that high-speed stability would be much enhanced if the new craft had a significantly greater length than previous water-speed contenders. The resulting larger, heavier vessel would clearly need much more thrust than a Bluebird-sized craft, if record speeds in excess of 300 mph were to be challenged.
Thus, Quicksilver has well over twice the thrust of Donald Campbell’s famous boat. Its Spey turbofan delivers 11,030 pounds (5,008 kilograms) of thrust, compared to the 4,750 pounds (2,156 kilograms) delivered by the Bristol Siddeley Orpheus turbojet in Bluebird.
Tags: oliver twinsafe, oliver valves, oliver valvetek, Quicksilver, speed record, world water speed record
Posted in: Quicksilver WSR