July 23, 2005

The White Hawk was a jet-powered hydrofoil built in the early fifties by Frank and Stella Hanning-Lee to beat the world speed record on water. It had a Rolls Royce Derwent jet engine capable of producing 6000 horsepower, which was possibly enough to get the relatively small aluminum boat airborne. Yet, as far as we know, the boat never actually went faster than 70-80mph. Simon Lewis (author of the above link) thinks he knows why: cavitation off the foils. As you read the story, you wonder how much the Hanning-Lee's knew of their boat's flaw as they were starting to get desperate to raise money to continue their quest for the record.

Here are some contemporary news reports and a personal account from a naval officer investigating hydrofoil technology who met with the Hanning-Lees.

posted by un- 19 years ago
  • Nice FPP, thanks.
  • I was just at the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake in New York last month. They had an exhibit on very bizarre, narrow, long boats that were made in the first half of the century. They had one on display, which was nice, but the best thing they had was video of these sleek things exploding across the lakes in the 20's or 30's, I think. It was fantastic.