Interview
then joined Macknight and developed his concept into Quicksilver’s initial design. However, after 12 years of working together, Macknight parted company with Norris at the beginning of 2001. The new team made some major changes, such as moving
the craft’s centre-of-gravity much further forward, which resulted in a fundamentally different configuration to maintain static and low-speed buoyancy and high-speed stability, though some of Norris’s concept remains.
Collaborative working
Fig 2. Quicksilver under construction, showing the hull frame, sponsons and engine.
a project in its own right long before the company ever came into being, just as it continued more-or-less uninterrupted after the company’s demise. The company was a management company which handled certain tasks for the project - primarily the fund-raising aspects. It did not actually own anything to speak of, either physically or intellectually. It provided a service to the project, and when it could no longer provide that service, the project did without it and found other ways to get the same jobs done.”
Design dilemmas
Because of the separation between the project and the company, the design work was virtually uninterrupted by the demise of the company. However, the team underwent major changes earlier in the new millennium. Ken Norris, Quicksilver’s chief designer, had worked with Donald Campbell, co-designing his Bluebird record-breaking cars and boats, and had created a concept for a new configuration of boat to reclaim the World Water Speed Record. Norris
Q
Quicksilver specifications uicksilver has a
structural backbone of high-tensile steel tubing,
to which are attached aluminium structures that contribute to the craft’s strength and rigidity, create watertightness, and bestow hydrodynamic and aerodynamic properties. Other materials used include titanium, carbon fibre, Kevlar and Zylon. The engine is a modified Rolls-Royce Spey Mk.101 turbofan from a Buccaneer S.2B aircraft, with a rated static thrust of 11,030 pounds (5008 kg) and fuel consumption (at full power) of one
8
www.engineerlive.com
Assembling and managing a team for this type of project can be difficult, with the individuals almost inevitably located in different parts of the country and using diverse tools for computer-aided design and engineering. Macknight says: “Of course, there is any number of ways a dispersed team of people can work together electronically these days. All of the design work we do is pooled together in one place, regardless of its point of origin. We have a master CAD file of the boat held on a secure site that can only be accessed by accredited individuals, and then we use Skype and emails as required. And then finally - there being no substitute for personal eye- to-eye contact from time to time.” Team members usually share design data via IGES and
STEP files, with PTC’s Windchill ProjectLink collaboration software making the process as seamless as possible. But while the design is still fluid, the ease with which it can be changed can tempt engineers to fine-tune their ideas continually in search of perfection. Having been through all the changes and undertaken the redesign of the boat, Macknight is eager to push ahead to a successful conclusion. Much of the boat’s hardware, including the hull frame,
litre per second. All of the craft’s controls are activated electronically for reasons of weight, packaging and safety. Electrical systems operate at 24VDC.
l All-up weight: 3.5tonnes. l Length: 11.8m. l Width: 3.414m. l Height: 2.977m. l Estimated speed record (average of two runs): 330mph.
l Estimated peak speed on record runs: 350mph.
l Theoretical maximum design speed: 400mph. l
Fig. 3. Quicksilver will be tested at speeds of up to 200mph, then upgraded to beat the current record of 317.60mph.
engine and fuel cell, are ready (Fig. 2), and a great deal of design work has been completed in preparation for further fabrication and assembly work (see panel for specifications). The aim is to get a ‘Dash 1’ specification boat ready and tested, ideally in the UK, at speeds of up to 200mph (322km/h), after which it will be upgraded to ‘Dash 2’ specification for high-speed trials and a record attempt (Fig. 3). Currently the record is held by Ken Warby and the Spirit of Australia, which achieved 317.60mph in 1978, whereas Quicksilver’s theoretical maximum speed is 400mph. But when does Macknight think this will happen? “The actual date for the boat to go on the water in Dash 1 guise? Don’t ask ... I don’t know!” l
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