Pilot for Bluebird’s return to Coniston Water announced

Mr Warby’s reserve will be RAF Flt Lt David-John Gibbs, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, who is the designated pilot for the Longbow speed record attempt being led by Dave Aldred.

Two Orpheus jet engines are to be refurbished as part of the plans to get Bluebird running again.

Setting seven world water speed records between 1955 and 1964, it was last on water in 2018 at Loch Fad, on Scotland’s Isle of Bute, following a restoration led by North Shields engineer Bill Smith.

A legal row then ensued after Mr Smith claimed part-ownership due to the work he and his Bluebird Project (BBP) team had carried out.

In the settlement, external agreed in January, when he relinquished his claim, Mr Smith paid £25,000 towards the Ruskin Museum’s legal costs.

It was also agreed he would have no “further right, title or interest” in the craft.

However, since then the BBP’s social media account has repeatedly called for the museum to put aside those terms and enlist the group’s volunteers to help with maintenance and any future running.