U3 Cooper Racing Piston Powered Unlimited Hydroplane 2009

The sound of turbine boats is sweet but the brutal sound of piston motors is so intense and visceral you can literally feel it in your bones when the boat blasts by you. Nothing like it.

I’ll take the piston engine any day, im77Yrs old so I’ve heard a few😊😎🇺🇸

Correction announcers, the engine that won the battle of Britain was the R.R. Merlin NOT the 1710 -Allison

Sweet! Nice to see a piston boat walk away from the Turbines

When I am Emperor, the first thing I will do is outlaw announcers at boat races and vintage air shows, and piston unlimited's will be mandatory. History will call me William the Magnificent.

147 mph average with Allison power is nothing short of incredible. I can`t help but wonder how fast the U3 Cooper boat could have been with Merlin or better yet Griffon power.

I remember watching this growing up my favorite hydro boat was the miss Budweiser

U-3 is what the sport should be. Bring the noise back. Awesome

That is awesome! Long live the 'Thunderboats'!

I miss the sound of the piston engines in hydroplane racing..the ground shaking of 5 piston boats coming accross the starting line at the same time used to cause an erection...lol

The Turbine powered boats don't spool up nearly as quickly coming out of the corner, turbines of this size have a second or more of throttle lag because they A) The expanding burning gases are not in a sealed environment, but one that is (theoretically) open to the atmosphere, IE: Positive displacement versus not) and B) Turbines spin 10+ times as fast as piston motors (in this case about 20 times faster) meaning the Ly coming turbine must increase 20 or more times as many RPMs for a given gain in propshaft RPM compared to the Piston motor, this makes a big difference on a tight course or when it get's rough where the turbine cannot use it's higher top speed to it's best advantage. The piston motor also makes for a more aerodynamic package because it doesn't need the huge ducting to move all that air. Additionally the exhaust gasses out of a turbine require a higher wing to get clean air and make for more drag at the back. All in all, a piston motor makes for a quicker handling boat that can run harder in rough water, which is every lap after the first. It's like the difference between a NA and a turbo motor in a car: The turbo may be a little more powerful and a bit lighter, but on a twisty track it's better responsiveness may produce quicker lap times and it will handle traffic much easier. The problem is making a piston motor than can run such high power for more than a few seconds that is anywhere near as small and light as a turbine which can put out 4000-5000+ HP all day, measures only about 2 feet in diameter and 4 feet long and weighs less than 900 lbs.

Just saw jimmy King in guntersville Alabama and that Allison is still fast

I'd love to know more about that engine, which particular engine, how much boost it was running, approx hp etc. Awesome to see a WW2 engine winning a race!

That engine did not take part in the Battle of Britain, that was the Merlin.

I miss PICO s American Dream....

Tommy D'eath was/is one of the most fearless drivers ever put on water. This twin turbo Alison would be a walk in the park for him.. Should have had that legend riding that beast.. He'd show everyone how it would've been done.

Turbo Allisons were the also-rans of unlimited hydro racing in the '70s and '80s; why was the U3 so fast?

Back before the turbines finally ruined it!

The u3 team schould get a good engine tuner/efi specialst

their are modern twin turbo v8 engines out there maby you could fit one on a hydroplane that be make a very easy 2000+ hp