Jet Boats by Turbine Marine Inc

A boat with a…helicopter engine? Were the plans for this taken out of a Dr. Seuss book? Well as you would expect the Turbine marine “Jet Boats” have power. A lot of it. 1450 hp to be exact. Turbine Marine ( $65,000.00 – $255,000.00) successfully installed turbines into non-aviation machines. The engines that Turbine Marine uses are surplus Lycoming T-53 turbines taken from the military’s Huey helicopters. A high-performance piston engine of comparable power will have a service life of only a few hundred hours before it needs a total rebuild, which can be as much as $20,000. Turbines, on the other hand have a life expectancy of as much as 10,000 hours – 50 times longer.

In this photo Aquamania/G3 race team

Specifications
Turbine marine uses a Lycoming military T53 Turbine (modification 13B). These turbines consist of two rotating set of blades. The first set of blades (N1) rotates at about 19,000 rpm (this is the sound that you hear). Power is transferred to a second set of blades (N2), which then transfers power to the output shaft – and the out-drive. N2 revolves at 6,600 rpm’s and generates 1450 HP. (note: Turbines have governors to limit RPM’s similar to other high-performance engines).