Journal #8091
Posted 11 years ago2013-01-21 19:12:20 UTC
I saw a satellite in the sky just now. I was in the car and saw that the sky was extremely clear (not a visible cloud in the sky, which is unusual), and the moon and stars bright. One of those nights where you can see quite well by the moonlight, which normally only happens on a full moon, so I'd stood out to look at the stars. Anyway, one of them was moving, faster than a low flying jet would seem to go, but there was no sound, and no flashing lights, so it must have been a satellite.
In other news, I built a simple version of a Valveless Pulse Jet Engine, which is basically just a jar with a hole drilled in the lid. At the moment it's kind of dangerous to use, as they apparently explode on occasion, and to use it I have to fill it with fuel and hold a lighter to the hole in the top. I am working on an electric ignition system though, so I should put a picture or a video up when I do. And perhaps I might even build a fuel feed some day and turn it into something other than a useless novelty.
In other news, I built a simple version of a Valveless Pulse Jet Engine, which is basically just a jar with a hole drilled in the lid. At the moment it's kind of dangerous to use, as they apparently explode on occasion, and to use it I have to fill it with fuel and hold a lighter to the hole in the top. I am working on an electric ignition system though, so I should put a picture or a video up when I do. And perhaps I might even build a fuel feed some day and turn it into something other than a useless novelty.
9 Comments
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Are you by any chance building a rocket or just a jam jar jet? Because I remember wanting to build a scramjet, or something like that in the past...
I am interested in seeing your results.
And while some day I would like to build a valved pulse jet engine and stick it on a remote control plane or something, this one is just a test to see if I can actually build things occasionally rather than just planning them. I've made a spark gap with an electric lighter, but, I need to get some longer wires to be able to ignite it from a distance. In which case I can try using more fuel and see if I can get a beter flame.
I wish i recorded some of my model rocket follies to share with you! this one time i made a big rocket one out of 2" pvc with i think 4 d model rocket engines in smaller pvc pipe hot-glued to the rocket body, and one of those big "movie" rocket motors you get from the hobby store as the 2nd stage inside the 2" pvc. The d engines went off fine, but the big rocket motor failed to ignite until the rocket was already on a downward trajectory, so it was basically a 6 foot spear of pvc coming back down to earth at high speed, and disintegrated spectacularly on impact =)
WOAH! WOAAAH! You're so cool!