Miss Madison unlimited hydroplane in 2007

A hydroplane (or hydro, or thunderboat) is a very specific type of motorboat used exclusively for racing. Miss Madison is an unlimited American Boat Racing Association (ABRA Hydroplane. A motorboat is a vessel propelled by an Internal combustion engine driving a jet pump or a Propeller.

One of the unique things about these boats is that they only use the water they're on for propulsion and steering (not for flotation)—when going at full speed they are primarily held aloft by a principle of fluid dynamics known as "planing", with only a tiny fraction of their hull actually touching the water. A propeller is essentially a type of fan which transmits power by converting Rotational motion into Thrust for propulsion of a vehicle such as an Steering is the term applied to the collection of components linkages etc Fluid dynamics is the sub-discipline of Fluid mechanics dealing with fluid flow: Fluids ( Liquids and Gases in motion planing Boat 's hull skims across the surface of the Water rather than pushing through the water in the way a traditional Displacement hull A hull is the body of a Ship or Boat. It is a central concept in floating vessels as it provides the Buoyancy that keeps the vessel from sinking

Hydroplane design

The basic hull design of most hydroplanes has remained relatively unchanged since the 1950s: two sponsons in front, one on either side of the bow; behind the wide bow, is a narrower, mostly rectangular section housing the driver, engine, and steering equipment. Sponsons are projections from the sides of a Watercraft, for protection stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats etc A boat is a Watercraft of modest size designed to float or plane on water and provide transport over it The aft part of the vessel is supported in the water by the lower half of the propeller, which is designed to operate semi-submerged at all times. A propeller is essentially a type of fan which transmits power by converting Rotational motion into Thrust for propulsion of a vehicle such as an The goal is to keep as little of the boat in contact with the water as possible, as water is much denser than air, and so exerts more drag on the vehicle than air does. In Fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called fluid resistance) is the force that resists the movement of a Solid object through a Fluid (a Essentially the boat 'flies' over the surface of the water rather than actually traveling through it.

One of the few significant attempts at a radically different design since the three-point propriding design was introduced was referred to as Canard. It reversed the width properties, having a very narrow bow that only touched the water in one place, and two small outrigger sponsons in the back. An outrigger is a part of a boat's Rigging which is rigid and extends beyond the side or Gunwale of a boat

Early hydroplanes had mostly straight lines and flat surfaces aside from the uniformly curved bow and sponsons. The curved bow was eventually replaced by what is known as a pickle fork bow, where a space is left between the front few feet of the sponsons. Also, the centered single, vertical tail (similar to the ones on most modern airplanes) was gradually replaced by a horizontal stabilizer supported by vertical tails on either side of the boat and as of 2006 the horizontal stabilizer was mostly abandoned. A tailplane, also known as horizontal stabilizer, is a small lifting surface located behind the main lifting surfaces of a Fixed-wing aircraft Later, as fine-tuning the aerodynamics became more important, the bottoms of the main hull have subtle curves to give the best lift.

Unlimited hydroplane engines

The aviation industry has been the main source of engines for the boats. An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input For the first few decades after World War II, they used surplus World War II-era internal-combustion airplane engines, typically Rolls-Royce Merlins or Griffons, or Allison V-1710s, all liquid-cooled V-12s. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the Combustion of Fuel and an Oxidizer (typically air occurs in a confined space called a Overview Fixed-wing aircraft range from small training and recreational aircraft to Wide-body aircraft and military cargo aircraft. For the present day company see Rolls-Royce plc. For other uses see Rolls-Royce (disambiguation. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout V12 redirects here For the V12 Training program see V-12 Navy College Training Program. The loud roar of these engines earned hydroplanes the nickname thunderboats or dinoboats.

Donald Campbell attempted world speed records in the jet engined hydroplane, Bluebird in the early 1950s. Donald Malcolm Campbell, CBE ( 23 March 1921 &ndash 4 January 1967) was a British car and Motorboat specific --->A jet engine is a Reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of Fluid to Bluebird K7 was a Hydroplane with which Donald Campbell set 7 Water speed records Campbell lost his life in K7 on January 4 1967 The Ted Jones-designed Slo-Mo-Shun IV three-point, Allison-powered hydroplane set the water speed record (160. Tudor Owen ("Ted" Jones (died January 9, 2000) was best known as an Unlimited Hydroplane designer and builder The World Unlimited water speed record is the officially recognised fastest speed achieved by a water-borne vehicle 323 mph) in Lake Washington, off Seattle, Washington's Sand Point, on June 26, 1950, breaking the previous (ten-plus-year-old) record (141. Lake Washington is the second largest natural Lake in state of Washington (after Lake Chelan) and the largest lake in King County. Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 740 mph/228. 1 km/h) by almost 20 mph (32 km/h).

Starting in 1980, they have increasingly used Vietnam War-era turboshaft engines from helicopters (in 1973–1974, one hydroplane, U-95, used turbine engines in races to test the technology). The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia A turboshaft engine is a form of Gas turbine which is optimized to produce Shaft power, rather than Jet thrust. History Since 400 AD Chinese children have played with bamboo flying toys. The most commonly used turbine is the Lycoming T55, L-7C, used in the CH-47 Chinook. Lycoming Engines' is an American Aircraft engine company known primarily for its General aviation Engines For most of its history Lycoming has been WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

Efforts have occasionally been made to use automotive engines, but they generally have not proven competitive.

The "limited" classes of inboard hydroplane racing are organized under the name Inboard Powerboat Circuit. These classes utilize automotive power, as well as two-stroke power. There are races throughout the country from April to October. Many Unlimited drivers got their start in the "limited" classes.

Until November 20, 1977, every official water speed record had been set by an American or Briton. That day Australian Ken Warby broke the Anglo-American domination when he piloted his Spirit of Australia to 464. 5 km/h (290. 313 mph) to beat Lee Taylor’s record. Warby, who had built the craft in his back yard, used the publicity to find sponsorship to pay for improvements to the Spirit. On October 8, 1978 Warby travelled to Blowering Dam, Australia, and broke both the 480 km/h (300 mph) and 500 km/h barriers with an average speed of 510 km/h (318. 75 mph).

As of 2005, Warby’s record still stands, and there have only been two official attempts to break it.

External links

• Nice set of pictures showing bow design evolution, from the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum Also note the wood grain visible on some of the early boats--later hydros have used fiberglass and assorted hi-tech materials
• HydroInsider.com
• The American Boat Racing Association's hydroplane website
• Hydropage.com - Home of The Forum!
• The Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing Association's website
• The Inboard Powerboat Circuit's Official website
• HydroplaneQuebec.com
• Roostertails
• The Miss Boat Electric website
• Canadian Boating Federation website