Napier-Campbell Blue Bird
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Napier-Campbell Blue Bird
The Napier-Campbell Blue Bird was a land speed record car driven by Malcolm Campbell. Its designer was C. Amherst Villiers and Campbell's regular mechanic Leo Villa supervised its construction. This was Campbell's first car to use the Napier Lion aero engine. His intention was to surpass his previous Sunbeam ''Blue Bird'''s achievement of the 150 mph barrier and to reach 200 mph. 1927 When first built, the car used a Napier Lion engine of around 500 bhp. It was of conventional form with a front-mounted vertical radiator and the driver behind the engine. The three banks of the W-12 engine were hidden behind bulges in the narrow bonnet, with exhaust stub pipes protruding. Bluebird's first record attempt was on 4 February 1927 at Pendine Sands. A peak speed of was achieved, tantalisingly close to the magic , but the two-way average recorded for the record was lower, at . 1928 The 1927 record was short-lived, as Segrave's Sunbeam 1000 hp achieved both the ...
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Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird
The Campbell-Napier-Railton Blue Bird was a land speed record car driven by Malcolm Campbell. After Henry Segrave's Golden Arrow, clearly a more powerful engine was required for ''Blue Bird'', with a chassis and transmission to handle it. A supercharged Napier Lion VIID was used, with over three times the power of the previous Blue Bird and a large premium over Golden Arrow's unsupercharged Lion VIIA. This was not the first use of supercharging for Land Speed Record cars, but was the first combining supercharging with the large displacement aero engines that had previously been relied upon for their gross output. Golden Arrow's innovative vertical aerodynamic stabilising fin was also used, a first for Campbell. Campbell's nemesis Segrave was killed in an attempt on the water speed record while Campbell was scouting for new record courses in South Africa. On his return, Campbell set off for Daytona with the new ''Blue Bird'', concerned at American challenges to the record ...
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Surface Radiator
Radiators are heat exchangers used for cooling internal combustion engines, mainly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine. Internal combustion engines are often cooled by circulating a liquid called ''engine coolant'' through the engine block, and cylinder head where it is heated, then through a radiator where it loses heat to the atmosphere, and then returned to the engine. Engine coolant is usually water-based, but may also be oil. It is common to employ a water pump to force the engine coolant to circulate, and also for an axial fan to force air through the radiator. Automobiles and motorcycles In automobiles and motorcycles with a liquid-cooled internal combustion engine, a radiator is connected to channels running through the engine and cylinder head, through which a liquid (coolant) is pumped. This liquid may be water (in climates where water is unlikel ...
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Bluebird Record-breaking Vehicles
The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. Bluebirds have blue, or blue and rose beige, plumage. Female birds are less brightly colored than males, although color patterns are similar and there is no noticeable difference in size. Taxonomy and species The genus ''Sialia'' was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1827 with the eastern bluebird (''Sialia sialis'') as the type species. A molecular phylogenetic study using mitochondrial sequences published in 2005 found that ''Sialia'', ''Myadestes'' (solitaires) and ''Neocossyphus'' (African ant-thrushes) formed a basal clade in the family Turdidae. Within ''Sialia'' the mountain bluebird was sister to the eastern bluebird. The genus contains three species: Behavior Bluebirds are territorial and prefe ...
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Golden Arrow (land Speed Racer)
Golden Arrow was a land speed record racer built in Britain to regain the world land speed record from the USA. Henry Segrave drove the car at 231.45 mph (372.46 km/h) in March 1929 on Daytona Beach, exceeding the previous record by 24 mph (39 km/h). The car Built for ex-Sunbeam racing driver Major Henry Segrave to take the Land Speed Record from Ray Keech, ''Golden Arrow'' was one of the first streamlined land speed racers, with a pointed nose and tight cowling. Power was provided by a 23.9 litre (1462 ci) W12 Napier Lion VIIA aeroengine, specially prepared by Napiers, designed for the Supermarine aircraft competing in the Schneider Trophy, producing 925 hp (690 kW) at 3300 rpm. The car was designed by ex-Sunbeam engineer, aero-engine designer and racing manager Captain John Samuel Irving (1880-1953).Captain J. S. Irving. ''The Times'', Tuesday, 31 Mar 1953; pg. 8; Issue 52584. It featured ice chests in the sides through which coolant ran and a telescop ...
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Arrol-Aster
Arrol-Aster was a British car maker founded in 1927 when Arrol-Johnston and the English Aster company merged. The Wembley, London works of Aster was closed and production concentrated at the Heathhall, Dumfries factory of Arrol-Johnston. At first, manufacture of all the cars previously made by the two companies was continued along with those made under the Galloway badge but in 1928 a rationalisation was carried out. The cars were complex and expensive and sales were poor resulting in the company going into receivership in 1929 and finally closing in 1931. The company was responsible for making the body for Sir Malcolm Campbell's Blue Bird car in 1929 and an Arrol-Aster car was entered in the 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans. Model range *1927-1930 Aster 21/60 3042 cc Straight-6 Overhead valve *1927-1930 Aster 24/70 3460 cc Straight-6 Sleeve valve *1927-1929 Arrol-Johnston 15/40 2413 cc Straight-4 Overhead valve *1927-1930 Arrol-Aster 17/50 2370 cc Straight-6 Sleeve valve *1929-1930 ...
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Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the Anglo-Scottish border and just away from Cumbria by air. Dumfries is the county town of the historic county of Dumfriesshire. Before becoming King of Scots, Robert the Bruce killed his rival the Red Comyn at Greyfriars Kirk in the town on 10 February 1306. The Young Pretender had his headquarters here during a 3-day sojourn in Dumfries towards the end of 1745. During the Second World War, the bulk of the Norwegian Army during their years in exile in Britain consisted of a brigade in Dumfries. Dumfries is nicknamed ''Queen of the South''. This is also the name of the town's professional football club. People from Dumfries are known colloquially in Scots language as ''Doonhamers''. Toponymy There are a number of theories on the etymo ...
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Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest (after Johannesburg). Colloquially named the ''Mother City'', it is the largest city of the Western Cape province, and is managed by the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The other two capitals are Pretoria, the executive capital, located in Gauteng, where the Presidency is based, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital in the Free State, where the Supreme Court of Appeal is located. Cape Town is ranked as a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The city is known for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is home to 66% of the Western Cape's population. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place ...
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Verneukpan
Verneukpan is a widespread dry salt pan south of Kenhardt, between Swartkop and Diemansput in the Northern Cape, South Africa. ''Verneuk'' is Afrikaans for to trick, mislead, screw or swindle. The pan is used for aerotowing operations. During the rainy seasons many birds flock to the pans, when they contain water. The surface is completely flat, and is approximately long and wide. In 1929 the pan was used by Sir Malcolm Campbell, who unsuccessfully attempted to break the land speed record in his Napier-Campbell Blue Bird. Andy Green visited the pan during 2008, while investigating surfaces for use by Bloodhound SSC. Location This region contains very little vegetation, primarily very low shrubs and yellow grass among a rocky desert kind of landscape. During the seasons many birds flock to the pans, when they contain water, after some rainfall. Temperature above 40 °C is not uncommon. The surface is completely flat, claimed to be a dried-up lake estimated long and ...
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Timbuctu
Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali and one town of Songhai people. It had a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census. Timbuktu began as a seasonal settlement and became a permanent settlement early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, particularly after the visit by Mansa Musa around 1325, Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and slaves. It gradually expanded as an important Islamic city on the Saharan trade route and attracted many scholars and traders. It became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century. In the first half of the 15th century, the Tuareg people took control of the city for a short period until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the city in 1468. A Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 1591 an ...
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White Triplex
The White Triplex (also known as the "Triplex Special" and the "Spirit of Elkdom") was an American land speed record car built for J. H. White and driven by Ray Keech. It was powered by three 27-litre Liberty aero engines, for a total of 36 cylinders, 81 litres of displacement and a claimed 1500 bhp. White, a wealthy American from Philadelphia (no connection to the White Motor Company), wanted to take the land speed record from the British, then shared in a duel between Henry Segrave and Malcolm Campbell. No suitable engines were available to give a sufficient advantage over the British Napier Lion, so the simplest possible chassis was constructed and three war-surplus Liberty aero engines were squeezed into it. The vehicle was simple, with no clutch or gearbox and only a single fixed ratio. Once running by a push start, it had to keep rolling. Driver comforts were minimal: the forward engine was sheathed in a crude attempt at streamlining, the two side-by-side behind it ...
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Ray Keech
Charles Raymond Keech (May 1, 1900 - June 15, 1929) was an American 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. Career Land speed record Keech set the land speed record of on April 22, 1928. He set the record at the Daytona Beach Road Course in the 81-liter triple-engined internal combustion White Triplex 'Spirit of Elkdom'. His record was broken by Henry Segrave on March 11, 1929. In 1929 Keech was asked by Triplex owner J. M. White to attempt to break the new record in the Triplex. Keech wisely declined. White hired Lee Bible, who rolled the car and died in his second attempt to set the record. Automobile racing He won the first race at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway in 1928. He finished in second place in the season points in the AAA National Championship. He qualified sixth for the 1929 Indianapolis 500. Louis Meyer was leading the race, until he lost oil ...
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