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!

I really miss CHARLES, but this new guy is good too!


;)

yeah i miss him already.

2 words:

Bat Suit

yep getting dressed up in a BAT SUIT and strapping a JET PACK to my ass and jumping off the SWISS ALPS would be a very exciting experience for me.


and somewhere if i can find that e-mail i have that on video. and that guy WAS FREEKING NUTS!

so, you'll take it under advisement?

RWebb's link says the target price for the whole aircraft is $60k.
The engine website quotes the price of the engine at ~ 41,000 Euro, which converts to just over $59k.

Obviously the math does not work out for the target price based on the engine price, but that's their problem.

The answer to your question is yes... adding a second engine would probably double the cost. Not only the added cost of the second engine, but there is going to be cost involved in re-engineering the aircraft structure to withstand the stresses.

But I like your thinking. Sweep the wings... put a jet under each one.... Depending on the drag of the aircraft, you could be looking at a 500mph kitplane. :cool:

Also, an underwing engine design is easier to control if you lose an engine than mounting the engine high and rear like they have done. Their plane will tend to nose-up and stall if they lose thrust. Not a plane for a beginner.

The head of the company, John Monnet is all about designing fun simple light aircraft kits. His hope as I understand it is that as light jet aircraft increase in numbers, the outlandish engine prices will come down a bit.

This particular aircraft is designed to just be a fun type evening joyride type plane that happens to be powered by a small jet engine. It is NOT being designed to be a super high performance cross country bird.

I am not saying I necessarily want to build one, but some of you guys don't seem to get what this guy and the type of aircraft kits he designs are all about. If this aircraft tests OK, he will sell some kits just as he has sold many of his internal combustion powered kits to many satisfied kit builders/fliers.

IIRC he was working on an electric project also. In the 70's Monnet designed the popular VW powered race aircraft called Sonerais which were designed for use in Formula Vee racing. This guy has been around and has many proven succesful designs.

Sonex -- The Sport Aircraft Reality Check!

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