My Handle

Gasturbine · Jun 26, 2015

A few of you have asked about my handle...no, Im not in the Navy, but it is water related...

I build boats with my Dad. We have had many over the years, but our latest endeavor was a 1999 Rogers 20’ Bonneville, powered by an Avco-Lycomming T-53 gas turbine jet engine.

It makes 1350 hp, and hurls the boat down the water at 145 mph, while going 0 to 100 in about 7 seconds.

We got the jet from a crashed Huey helicopter, and through the Cassell v-drive, it throws a 24”/29p screw via an Arneson surface drive.

The jet spins at about 28k rpm, and has a built in 3:1 reduction unit. That runs into the 1:.83 overdrive (v-drive) which ends up at about 6k screw rpm.

We also installed a disk brake on the output shaft. This not only allows the shifting of the v-drive, but also allows us to stop the output shaft, load the turbine, then release the brake, allowing great hole shots.

The boat is turn key ready, smooth, and built right. While we can build piston engines that make this power, the rebuild schedule would be high. The great thing about turbines is the little wear they produce, and that they are right at home running at 100%, even for long periods of time. Try that with your 500+ hp piston engine.

Here are some pix...