A gentleman brought some home video to ur club meeting last night, of two pulse jets flying at an event in England. I think the date said 1989. Anyway, it is the first time I actually got to see video of these things and all I can say is WOW!!!!! The planes were a type of delta with a short nose section with canards.
Each plane had THREE pulsejets on it and they were amazing!!!
The sound and speed was incredible!
I just had to say something about it 'cause man, it was cooooolll!!
Any pulse jets videos clips out there anywhere!? :stupid:
Myles

Jetset,

There are several problems with pulse jets that have kept them from ever becoming popular. The sound is the first, actually noise is a better term. They put out an awful, nasty, throaty, grunting honking, barfing you name it kind of sound. Whether you like the sound of them or not they are incredibly, unbelievably loud, that is why they are usually flown out in the desert to get them as far away from people as possible. Another problem is power, they don't put out much. I talked with Bruce Tharp once about his Shockwave pulse jet model that was on the cover of RCM and he said it wasn't very fast at all. My propeller driven Diamond Dust would leave it, well, in the dust. Finally, they have no throttle capability.

Pulse jet flyers are kind of like washing machine hot-rodders, (yes, there are such people, no I'm not one of them!) a very small, select group that enjoy their hobby. I say more power to 'em. Due to the problems associated with them; however it is unlikely they will ever achieve any kind of popularity.

Yes, you are probably right about the popularity of them. I just thought it was cool since I have seen pics and read about them for years but never saw one actually fly until then. I would still like to hear one in person though...just to satisfy my curiosity!
Myles

Dustflyer


You are right they make a lot of noise. The Ukie guys flew them in competition years ago and I think approached 200mph.

If I remember correctly there was a guy who developed a way of throttling them.

Jim Whitney

That's interesting. Would be cool to see how he managed to throttle these beasts?
Myles

I belive I seen these pulse jets fly in England in the late 80's at a place called Ripley Castle, they were incredibly noisy, and flown by a team called the Ghost Squadron who are still around the show circuit.

jason

Back in the late sixties (Eons ago, I know) I lit off an OS pulse jet in the garage. All the dogs in the neighborhood howled for hours!
In 1970, we ran a much larger pulse jet at work in the outdoor test cell in order to evaluate it's performance for an RPV project (Ryan Aeronautical).
We did this on Saturday, hoping that we could run it when few people were in the plant. As luck would have it, the Mfg. VP, Bill Wiley was there(Unfortunately), and heard it....
We were told under pain of death "Do not ever run that Gawd Damn thing in my factory again!!!!!!!.
That was the loudest thing in the world. They used to be advertised in Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines as powerplants for home built helicopters. They were intended to be mounted at the end of each rotor blade, to provide a "no torque" rotor system, and eliminate the need for a tail rotor. They are not throttleable, as they rely on the flutter frequency of the reed valve to admit fuel to the combustion chamber.
Fond memories.........just thought I'd share that one with you.

Harley Condra
BVM REP
RAM REP
Buy American!!!!!!

Here in the uk a few years ago there was a volcan bomber with 4 pulse jets in it....It was absolutely amusing, very very noisey flames about 10 ft out of the back.......Good to watch from a safe distance!

Harley,

What a great story, I'm still chuckling to myself. Very funny!

Gene

Gene,
Thanks for the compliment.
A sign of advancing age is the volume of stories one can recall.
But, that's better than the alternative.


Harley Condra
BVM REP
RAM REP
Buy American!!!!!!!

[QUOTE]

If I remember correctly there was a guy who developed a way of throttling them.

Jim Whitney

Hey Jim. He lives down in your neck of the woods. Mike Early down in Tempe....

We have mounted and flown a PULSE JET on a Diamond Dust.
4 people to lite if off and lanuch it. Had a hard time keeping
the fuel flowing but it wanted to go. Have it on video but can't
find the still shots. Plane is sitting up in GA waiting for us to
give it another try. Need to fit it with a blader tank. Might see about pulling it out this spring.
Will post picture when I find it.

Now THAT I'd REALLY like to see!

Dean

Thanks very much. I will look this guy up and ask how the throttle worked.

Needless to say I will post the info.

Thanks again

Jim Whitney

Go here: http://www.conceptserviceselectrical.com/Richard's%20Home%20Page/richard5.htm A buddy o' mine (Pulse Jet Harry) bought one and I bet him we'd never get it to fly. I won. The most incredible thing though was one of the times we bench ran it, the bench BURST INTO FLAMES just due to radiant heat from the damn thing. UNREAL! What an obnoxious sound!

That link should be:

http://www.conceptserviceselectrical.com/Richard's%20Home%20Page/richard5.htm

QUOTE

Thanks very much. I will look this guy up and ask how the throttle worked.

Needless to say I will post the info.

Thanks again

Jim Whitney > He varied the amount of fuel going into the damn thing. The pitch/RPM? never changed but the volume did.
I think his last email is [email protected]
I do have his phone number if Ya want it......privatly.

For those who are interested, my article on R/C Pulsejet models appeared in the Feb 2000 issue of RCM. Lots of good info in there on the pulsejet models I've designed and flown over the past ten years. My latest, a twin Dynajet model, will be featured in the May issue of Model Airplane News in the Final Approach column.

The biggest problem with pulsejets these days is getting them! Bailey in TX used to make beautiful engines, but his tube welding machine was damaged and he hasn't gotten it going yet. America's Hobby Center advertised the Dynajet for years ($289), but not lately. Not sure if they have them anymore. The best place to find them is ebay, but the price is sometimes ridiculous.

Hey Jetset and miderror, I'd love to see the videos you've described if you can get your hands on them.

Happy to help any pulsejet enthusiasts out there!

Bruce Tharpe
BTE 541-582-1708

I have a Dynajet pulse jet engine mounted in a F-86 Ukie, what am I bid?

Found a Pulse Jet Dust picture. Not a great shot but oh well.

miderror,

Thanks for that great video, totally wild! Absolutely hilarious watching everyone run for their lives when that pulse jet lit off. Hope those guys get it to run for more than a few seconds, maybe that bladder tank will do the trick.

Really enjoyed talking to you. You should have my Dust video by now. Any chance of seeing that mini-turbine on a store shelf any time soon?

This is a great thread-could I get 2 pulsejets to fly this 30# F-4...........nah.........


Jackjet

Bruce,

How about a turbine Vortex?

Turbine Vortex sounds cool. You going to do one Bruce?
W/ a Pulse Jet after burner maybe?
Get the PJ Dust video to you soon.

I believe this is the same gentleman I called early in 2001 and said lightning had hit his welder. I called back in Dec. and said lightning had hit his welder and it might be March , 02 before he got caught up. I was tempted to order one but I'm not sure what the deal is? There is plenty of info on the net if someone wants info including plans. We fly in a cow pasture so noise is not an issue. The turbines are still out of my price range. I built a couple of Schrecklings but havn't had much success with them. The pulsejet seems pretty foolproof.