Why Gasturbine? This boat is why...

[Gasturbine]

People keep asking me about my handle, but I was never in the navy, however, have been building performance boats since the '60s. My handle comes from one of those project...a 1999 20' Rogers Bonneville with a 1350 hp Lycoming T-53 Gas Turbine stuffed in it. Drive is a Arnesen Surface unit swinging a 24x29 screw.

Top speed is about 145 mph, and can get from 0 to 100 in about 7 seconds because we put a disc brake on the output shaft which allows us to load the turbine up, then release the brake allowing tremendous hole shots.

Power is delivered through a Casale 1:.83 over-drive v-drive, which has forward, reverse, and neutral.

The boat is turn key, reliable, and built right. We can build piston engines that make this HP, but the rebuild schedule would be high, and any "sustained" runs could result in grenading the engine. Thats the nice thing about turbines...they are right at home running 100%...all day long. In fact, they tend to run cooler at speed.

The downsides are noise and fuel consumption. The thing is loud, real loud. We wear helicopter noise-cancelling intercom headsets when in operation and fuel consumption is 100 GPH at speed. It was not uncommon to drop $200-$400 in fuel costs for a short afternoon of fun.

Hers are some pix and a crappy video...

[LJ851]

Gon need some videos of this thing in action.

[evandael]

jesus tapdancing christ. that's badass.

[giantkeeper]

[Gasturbine]

Meh...sorry...here it is, but its crappy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBjNwjTOjak&list=HL1357137703&feature=mh_lolz

[LJ851]

So Bad Ass.

[M-technik-3]

What is the TBO for that thing? Has to be more often than when used for it's original means.

You must need to wear some noise reduction headphones while operating it as well. The local town has no issues with noise levels? Or is this strictly for boat races?

Very cool.

[Gasturbine]

What is the TBO for that thing? Has to be more often than when used for it's original means.

"TBO" (Time Between Overhaul) is strictly an aviation term. While it did initially come out of a Huey helicopter, now that its a surface unit, there is no set time. And since aviation turbines have a 10x+ TBO than piston units, we dont even monitor run time.

And Im not sure I would agree it would be more often for our aplication, compared to powering a heli.

You must need to wear some noise reduction headphones while operating it as well.

It was already stated in the original post.

The local town has no issues with noise levels? Or is this strictly for boat races?

Originally it was a R&D project...we just wanted to see if we could do it.

We run in unlimited waters well off shore. Same waters are host to headered big blocks so as long as we arent "buzzing" the waterfront, we are okay.

We cant race it, as it cant get a Keith Black HP bracketing rating, so its just for recreation...going fast and embarrassing smart ass jet ski pilots or anyone else you want to take us on.

[Jon325i]

That's one kick ass boat Gasturbine! The inventor of the Arneson drive, Howard Arneson, is a NorCal native (you probably knew that ;) ). I met him once briefly at a marina on the delta.....nice guy. I was checking out his new boat (at the time), a 46-foot catamaran with 2 gas turbines cranking out an ungodly amount of power. Here's a short video of said boat....Howard making this run on his 90th birthday.



For those unfamiliar with Howard Arneson, he's an inventor. Before he created his high performance surface drive for boats, he invented the pool sweep.

Jon

[UNHCLL]

Arneson = sweet.

Here are 2 of my fathers toys...

1969 Donzi Corsican
Worked Homan Moody 302
Bravo 1 drive
Deck-off restoration
GPS'd @ 78mph


1971 Magnum 27 Sport
In-process of rebuild
Volvo 280 drives - rebuilt to handle new power & keep period appearance
K-planes
2 new 383 strokers built from Dart blocks
...and the list goes on. (Don't they always on boats?) :)
Should splash it this summer after 2 years out of water for rebuild. Est. 85mph with current power

[Gasturbine]

That Donzi is one sweet ride. Kudos back at ya!

[UNHCLL]

That Donzi is one sweet ride. Kudos back at ya!

Do you run primarily in fresh or salt water? I'm not familiar with what's close to you in OH.
I couldn't tell from the photos, but do you have a throttleman/pilot setup or single control?

How do you find the Arneson for slower speed/marina type maneuvering?

[OrganicMechanic]

excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the ground...

[e30lov]

Mother of god. That is incredible

[mrsleeve]

Jimmy fucking cricket