Scott’s friend preparing for the Nevada launch this summer….
16 responses to “Pulse-jet engine test”
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Sorry you posted this so long ago but I´ve just seen it.
They say that when Scott´s friend´s wife saw the pic she said:
"this is the first time in my life I can say that he is on fire… or so close to."
Bad joke… A-Haahaaaa…
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Stewart, that’s not a lighter– judging from the pulse-jets I’ve seen bodged together on shows like Junkyard Wars, you ignite the fuel with a spark plug in the combustion chamber (the fat part of the pipe) and in order to start the engine, you use a leaf-blower or like to blow air into the short stem– when it ignites, it’ll blow out both pipes, creating thrust, lots of flame at first, and enough of a partial vacuum inside that draws both fresh are and very hot air back in, so that the process repeats itself in a self-sustaining way. The result is a very loud buzzing sound and a nice amount of thrust.
Pulse jets are, I’d wager, a miracle of stainless steel — it seems as though there just wasn’t any material before it that could cope with both the intense heat and the explosions going on inside.
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If you’ve ever heard a recording of the pulse-jet on a V-1 "buzz bomb," the sound is unforgettable. Imagine a cross between a deep-throated piston-engined prop plane and a constantly growling leopard. That’s a pulse-jet.
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No no no- the above is a very standard Lockwood PulseJet design. The V1 is very different- and the sound is very different. That’s not to say that the sounds of both are heart-fluttering, amazing, and unlike anything else. The V1 truly sounds like "war," and the Lockwood PulseJet just sounds- well, beautiful- varrying on how the output tubing shapes the sound. Also- the above looks like a failed ignition. When they’re operating at a stable resonance there’s no visible flame, and the metal in the baffling and the output pipe turns lots of nifty colors. They sho iz purdy… but the above is one helluva bitchin’ photo!! 😀
The V1’s sound is shaped by a set of about two dozen reeds, functioning as valves. The reeds create the buzzing noise as the open & shut many times per second.
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