Lake Tahoe Thunderbird
Oct 8, 2017 20:12:23 #
I was fortunate to be at the Tahoe Marina dock while the classic wooden yacht "Thunderbird" was refueling. Built in 1940 by billionaire George Whitehall, for $87,000, the mahogany hull and cockpit were designed to match his DC 2 aircraft. It is 55' long and has twin Allison V-12 1100hp aircraft engines capable of propelling it at 60kph. It was bought in 1962 by William Harrah. It's quite a sight and very loud. Enjoy!
Mark
Mark
Oct 8, 2017 20:15:08 #
Oct 8, 2017 20:24:52 #
mas24
Loc: Southern CA
Beautiful. My late grandmother had mahogany furniture. She would have loved this yacht. It's in excellent condition to be 77 years old.
Oct 8, 2017 20:30:22 #
Oct 8, 2017 20:38:06 #
Very nice images of a beautiful boat. Would love to hear those twin Allisons wide open.....probably sound like a Lockheed P-38 !!
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing.
Oct 8, 2017 22:17:34 #
Oct 8, 2017 22:19:44 #
mas24 wrote:
Beautiful. My late grandmother had mahogany furniture. She would have loved this yacht. It's in excellent condition to be 77 years old.
After Harrah bought it, each year they refurbished it by sanding to bare wood and applying 18 coats of varnish.
Oct 8, 2017 22:20:30 #
rmorrison1116 wrote:
A very interesting boat indeed...
It's quite a sight (and sound).
Oct 8, 2017 22:22:23 #
dmc wrote:
Very nice images of a beautiful boat. Would love to hear those twin Allisons wide open.....probably sound like a Lockheed P-38 !!
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your comments Don. What amazed me is that it takes aviation fuel at only $1/gal.
Oct 9, 2017 03:50:04 #
Oct 9, 2017 08:37:16 #
Oct 9, 2017 13:55:59 #
I believe Lake George, NY has (or had....it's been a while) a famous maker of mahogany boats. One of which was used in Henry Fonda's last flick. On Golden Pond
Oct 9, 2017 13:58:39 #
Oct 9, 2017 13:59:16 #
Oct 9, 2017 14:01:08 #
foathog wrote:
I believe Lake George, NY has (or had....it's been a while) a famous maker of mahogany boats. One of which was used in Henry Fonda's last flick. On Golden Pond
This boat was built in Michigan.
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