An attentive reader tipped us off to the guys at Mobacken Racing (translation), a group of Swedes dedicated to the art and craft of putting jet and rocket engines on go karts and snowmobiles.
One of the simpler builds is a pulse jet sled. Pulse jets are extremely simple devices – just a few stainless steel tubes welded together and started with a leaf blower. The simplicity of a pulse jet lends itself to running very hot and very loudly; the perfect engine for putting the fear of a Norse god into the hearts of racing opponents.
Pulse jets are a bit too simple for [Johansson], so he dedicates his time towards building a jet turbine engine. Right now it’s only on a test stand, but there’s still an awesome amount of thrust coming out of that thing, as shown in the video after the break.
In our humble opinion, the most interesting build is the 1000 Newton liquid fuel rocket engine. The liquid-cooled engine guzzles NOX and methanol, and bears a striking resemblance to liquid fuel engines we’ve seen before. Sadly, there are no videos of this engine being fired (only pics of it strapped to a go-kart), but sit back and watch a couple other hilariously overpowered engines disturbing a tranquil sylvan winter after the break.
Edit: [Linus Nilsson] wrote in to tell us while the guys at Mobacken Racing are good friends, [Linus], his brother, and third guy (his words) are responsible for the pulse jet sled. The pulse jet is actually ‘valved’ and not as simple as a few stainless steel tubes. The pulse jet isn’t started by a leaf blower, either, but a four kilowatt fan. [Linus]’ crew call themselves Svarthalet racing, and you can check out the Google translation here.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoD60hEelyo&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMl4go72Y_8&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4n7G7j59ls&w=470]
Dangerzone.
Love at first sight. The sound when it starts…=D
Fear the jet viking!!!
O.o
this definately made my day.
I know races aren’t won with the brakes on, but now do you stop the damn thing?
with your face.
I feel as though I was engaged in the wrong projects this winter.
What the hell was I thinking?
Just to clarify, they are two different teams, one is Mobacken racing that builds the jet engine and the other team is Svarthålet racing. They are equally entertaining to read and their madness is complete!
I really regret that I couldn’t visit Orsa Speed weekend where they ran the pulsjet twice. When they started it, car alarms went off a few kilometers away!
Anyone else think this is how the game Rocket Jockey may become real?
Where are the Grappling hooks for turning?
Anyone else see this as the beginning to a real life Rocket Jockey?
Where are the grappling hook launchers for turning though? (and pulling others off the rockets?)
N0lkk: there’s no brakes. You turn off the engine and hope you are on a big enough lake.
Normally we use the “spark” (or “kick” translated into English) on the streets but then it’s man powered. You stand with one foot on one ski and you kick yourself forward with the other foot.
Coasting to stop hoping you have enough room. images of daredevil. he image of kicking it along like kid’s sidewalk scooter, not so much 🙂
http://images.clipartof.com/small/101484-Happy-Blond-Boy-Riding-A-Scooter-On-A-Sidewalk-Poster-Art-Print.jpg
This is the same sort of pulsejet the Germans used on their V1 rockets, the buzzbomb. The vanes at the front of the engine act as a one way valve sort of, to suck in air, but disallow the blast out the front, forcing it all out the back.
Not quite as simple as the other, but still a simple engine.
This is so cool…. I wonder if there’s enough thrust from the turbine to use on that flying bat wing? Looks like a turbo charger from a truck or something.
Yes, indeed a simple engine – although quite big. I believe it should be somewhere in the range of 60-80% of the original V1. Not easy to say…
Johanssons turbine jet is a masterpiece! He has manufactured close to everything but the turbine wheel (Garret) himself.
Sorry if I double post. The last message seemed to disappear.
Yes, the pulse jet is indeed a quite simple engine. Quite big though. It should be somewhere in the range of 60-80% of the original V1. Not easy to say. We will make some more accurate measurements of the thrust in a couple of weeks.
Johanssons turbine jet is a masterpiece! He has manufactured close to everything but the turbine wheels (Garret) himself. And yes, the thrust should not be of any problem at all if you’d like to kill yourself on a bat wing! =)
I never knew there was a group of people doing this officially. We I worked (retired now) and I went on business trips, I always used to try to walk the city as much as I can. Cities I visited that I considered fun and walkable: Boston, Seattle, New York, San Francisco. Cities I visited that were not walkable: Los Angeles (downtown), Dallas, Boulder.
Mixing rockets and frozen lake racing, what could go wrong?
I did not see any valved pulsejets but it does look amusing. I think a few solid fuel rockets would speed along proceeds.
WAAAAAGH!
It often amazes me how little the HaD article drones know about the technologies in their articles.
They are writers, not engineers. Engineers don’t write.
http://engineerblogs.org/2011/11/why-dont-engineers-write/
Contrary to the point, you needn’t be an engineer to understand how a pulsejet works, for example.
I’m just glad I’m not there neighbor.
In addition to functioning as a very formidable storage surface, it can also cut the sausage ketchup, then applying to this.
I love you Google Translate.
“sausage ketchup” sounds delightful. It would also make a good name for a band.
band names are so old fashioned:
http://xkcd.com/1025/
I want to be a Swede!
That large pulsejet sounds positively *monstrous* once it starts.
I like to build things that scare the living s**t out of me. These guys are my heroes!
Things like this makes me proud to be a Swede! 🙂
Awesome!