Written by SCOTT MABEN
The Spokesman-Review
Murdo Cameron has something to tell the sport of hydroplane racing: Lighten up already.
The retired airline pilot, an innovator in the field of advanced composite materials, says he can transform how thunderboats are built, greatly reducing their weight and cost while making them stronger.
And he’s well on his way to proving it at an aerospace school near the Coeur d’Alene Airport.
“I think it’s a revolutionary breakthrough in building unlimited hydroplanes,” Cameron said.
Working out of the new Aerospace Center of Excellence at North Idaho College, the 69-year-old native of Wallace is making carbon fiber-reinforced resin hulls cast from the molds of existing hydroplanes. Instead of fabricating scores of smaller parts that need to be assembled, he can produce a hull in just three big parts: a single bottom and two top pieces.
The result, Cameron said, will be a boat that is far lighter and more resilient than those now competing around the Northwest and elsewhere, traveling up to 200 mph.
