Object Details
- Description
- The Buehler Turbocraft Company was founded in 1959 by George Buehler to build small boats using a then novel propulsion system – a water jet. The concept had been developed several years earlier by others, including Sir William Hamilton in New Zealand. In this concept, instead of an engine driving an external propeller, it drives a powerful pump which takes in water and shoots it out at high velocity through a nozzle in the transom of the boat. The nozzle can move side to side for steering. A significant advantage of the concept is that it allows operation in shallow water where a propeller could be damaged by contact with the bottom. The images at the left show one of Buehler’s drives from 1960. The internal components are visible in the cutaway side of the unit.
- Mr. Buehler adapted the jet drive to small, recreational boats. His early 18-foot boats used powerful, V-8 automobile engines to power the pump. In July 1960, four of these boats completed a run up the dangerous waters of the Grand Canyon’s Colorado River. The Buehler Turbocraft Company is still building jet boats in 2022.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- maker
- Turbocraft
- date made
- 1960
- Credit Line
- Buehler Turbocraft Company through George Morrison
- Measurements
- overall: 14 in x 46 1/2 in x 11 3/8 in; 35.56 cm x 118.11 cm x 28.8925 cm
- Object Name
- inboard engine
- jet outdrive for marine engine
