You Want This
 

- maybe just to win next year's Darwin Award...

but you DO want it:

DIY Jet Almost Ready to Fly | Autopia | Wired.com

240lbs of thrust doesn't seem like it would be enough...

Up till now I've had no interest in flying. Suddenly I do...

The "latest & greatest" think for the suckers not old enough to remember the BD5J:D

No carb ice, kewl!

Should make it a twin, one under each wing!!

Very slick. Just the thing to one up your neighbor at the AirPark.

Maybe someone with more knowledge can address this, but isn't the Bonanza style tail a little tricky to fly in certain circumstances (IIRC something like landing in a crosswind?)

Looks like a fun way to make a smoking hole.

A 747's max takeoff weight to thrust ratio is ~ 4:1, and it goes 500mph. 240 lbs sounds reasonable unless the pilot weighs half a ton.

Don't you dare tell me what I wa... Hey! that's kinda cool!

A local pilot I know built a VW powered Sonex. Sonex kits are fairly popular and the company is located up at Oshkosh IIRC. They are not idiots.... I don't know how succesful this thing will be, but these guys are pretty good kit plane designers/manufacturers.

I'd strap one on. For sure.

I've always dreamed of doing a kit plane some day - preferably a hotrod like a Glassair or something. This might be a perfect way to "scratch that itch".

+1 to the comments wondering why that's not a twinjet. Seems like it would be very easy/simple to do - either fuselage or wing mounted.

I'm assuming that $60k is for a bare bones kit without any avionics or anything like that... Even so, figure if the price is really double that ($120k) you're still in it for less $$$ than a new 172.

Insurance is gonna' be a beyatch though - that's probably the deal breaker.

The BD-5J jets, used a Sermel TRS-18-046 turbojet producing only 225 lbs of thrust.
They flew at ~300 mph.

You have seen them as the Bud Light Jet, the Coors Light Silver Bullet, and in the opening sequence of Octopussy.


... and I see rouxroux beat me to the BD5J mention.

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heres a lil interesting FACTOID........... a couple of enterprising individuals decided it would be cool to build a bunch of 1/4 scale i think F-15's. they did all the R&D, mfg., painting,building machining mostly in house in minden nevada.


they are both DEAD NOW!

Bit by rattlers?
You know you want juan!

nope 1st juan AUGERED IN............2nd juan decided to go on, continue mfg. and then he AUGERED IN not long after the 1st. (2) widows/kids blah blah.

"son.............DYING ain't NO WAY OF LIVING!"


life is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy TOO SHORT FOR KIT PLANES/VINTAGE PLANES for me.


yeah what the hell do i know? i only werk at an aeropuerto so my views are TOTALLY SKEWED!


i'll take my chances with "shoe bombers" and "underwear bombers" if i really want to hang my ass out into space.

THe engine does look tiny - why not put one under each wing? I guess that would double the price?

or rip the wings off, due to overthrust ability! OH BOY! we are having PFFHUN NOW!

You are turning into a pussy in you're old age. ;) Whats next? Are you going to quit riding dirt bikes? I know of a few people who have died in airplanes, but I know of and hear about MANY MANY more dying in car accidents.

You don't mess wit da aerospace mafia...

NO! im not turning into a pussy............its from being on or around or in flightlines in some capacity since i was 18. have seen wayyyyyyyyyy more crashes for numerous reasons than most people ever will in a life time.

watching (2) men burn to death in an experimental and me being 1st on scene will DO THAT TO YOU! also crashing in an experimental WILL DO THAT TO YOU when you read the NTSB report re: maintenance. why did the experimental crash. a plethora of reasons, 1st and foremost he was cheap as far as maint, (fuel control needed rebuild), used up 1/2 the downslope runway,came in hot, etc etc.

everybody goes off 1/2 cocked with the best of intentions. then reality sets in. costs assoc., where can we cut corners? "nobody will notice" etc. pretty soon a freight train of reasons cause the crash, not just (1) reason.


the deck is already stacked against you because of being a kit or vintage. why cut corners, why be cheap? and those questions are always asked at the end.

i would ser-i-ass-ly consider a parachute in ANY kit or vintage plane after my experiences.


remember................i'll be the juan taking pictures!