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Yikes! - Genuine pulsejet!


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There used to be a lovely show at plumpton park racecourse, I even managed to tolerate db sound. They lost it, a dutch guy used to fly a pulsejet and despite being briefed not to fly over a specific house managed to do it on virtually every visit I made there. Don't think db sound helped by broadcasting he shouldn't be flying there or words to that effect.

Show closed down and, unfortunately, damned right too.

Nevertheless it was a hell of a spectacle.

Don't know where the temperamental sprang from, the four or so that I saw were anything but, just one moving part. Can't get much simpler than that. (actually it can, there are valveless pulse jets but they are a bit awkward to install in aircraft)

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Posted by Braddock, VC on 24/10/2013 21:57:10:

There used to be a lovely show at plumpton park racecourse, I even managed to tolerate db sound. They lost it, a dutch guy used to fly a pulsejet and despite being briefed not to fly over a specific house managed to do it on virtually every visit I made there. Don't think db sound helped by broadcasting he shouldn't be flying there or words to that effect.

Show closed down and, unfortunately, damned right too.

Ditto Plumpton the next year @ Sandown I saw Hanno flying it again.

Bit more room there though; Boy what a sound. So BEB will you chase our VII's with Rockets or bombs or Cheat devil...

David wink

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I'll chase them with an injunction!

Crazy idea. I mean, yes they are spectacular and exciting. But so are high explosives!

They are far too fast and far too dangerous for any one but the very very competant - and I don't think there are many of those around. In shows is one thing, I too remember the Dutch guys with their Pulse Jst at Woodvale - which didn't end happily if I recall correctly. They have no place on the RC club scene in my view.

We wouldn't allow it at our club - TBH we simply couldn't allow it - well over the maximum permitted sound levels and too damn dangerous!

BEB

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Andrew, I'm afraid your comment would led me to believe you have never seen a pulse jet in operation!

1. Do you have the slightest idea just how loud these things are? Think of the loudest engine you have ever heard - its a whisper compared to one of these. There is an event held at Macrihanish, I think annually, where Pulse Jets are flown - they can be heard 8 miles away!

3. There is a raft of conditions you need to satisfy - including compulsary annual noise monitoring. Are you equipped for that?

4. Are you aware how dangerous they are! If the "fires go out" (and believe me that happens to best of Pulse Jet Jockeys so it will happen to you) the fuel doesn't stop and you have a large quantity of petrol flowing over a red hot motor - woof!

5. Finally and most importantly in my opinion, are you aware that they can only be flown untethered in the UK from a site with a special excemption certificate from the CAA? And, trust me, you wouldn't get one! Flying them off a tether without this excemption certificate is illegal - you would be liable for prosecution, so could the landowner be if s/he had given his/her permission. Oh - and case you're thinking "well they've got to catch me first" - well think again. The noise alone of that thing will attract the boys in blue from miles around.

Dream on,...

BEB

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 25/10/2013 00:14:55

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BEB I didn't realise there were so many restrictions, but it looks like c/l is okdevil.

My lasting impression of the plumpton one was his finale, after two or three mins of zapping around he went vertical and this plane disappeared upstairs and I mean disappeared then suddenly the noise would stop and you could imagine the mind set of all those folk in london when v1s were attacking, the silence was deafening. Definitely a spectacle but not for the pc of today.

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Pete B and me saw two pulse jets being flown at a local model show near the Dordogne. The sound was horrific. I had now idea how loud they were - certainly louder than a F1 car at full chat! You do not want the problem believe me.

Were they exciting? - yes! Were they fast? - unbelievably so! Were they dangerous? Yes! Only the very experienced could cope with the speed and orientation. The one that got into trouble was rapidly ditched into the adjacent field and resulted in a fire ball that set the field alight requiring valiant efforts by the stewards to control and extinguish it.

As a club modeller this is bad news all round.

Terry

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Ah yes. Even on control line with its lowerr height and thus smaller footprint they can be heard miles away. Instant flying field loss.

They used to glow red hot withing seconds of starting and if you didn't get them in the air fast enough they could be ruined.

I know that they were totally banned from all RAF stations. Almost certainly they still are.

I think I will frighten our club sec out of his mind by just hinting at buying onecheeky

Edited By Peter Miller on 26/10/2013 08:41:01

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Posted by Phil 9 on 26/10/2013 09:11:57:
Posted by GrahamC on 24/10/2013 21:08:06:

Oh dear.... I predict some lost flying sites it too many of those make their way to the UK!

ban them

Well they are effectively banned for RC use anyway as you need explicit permission from the CAA, which won't be forthcoming. The problem is the people who don't know they are banned... And the irresponsible idiots who think the rules are boring. Just read through the discussion at HK for proof that they exist.

And if you have never heard one in real life... the Youtube videos really give you no idea how loud they are....

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I really don't see why folk are getting so agitated about this - there is clearly an implied criticism of HK in many of these posts. Hobbyking is a global company and the UK market is just a small part of their total sales. They sell a number of other products which cannot legally be used in the UK, such as FPV modules etc, so why the histrionics about one more?

There are many other parts of the world where flying a pulse jet will create no noise problem whatsoever and I think too many here are adopting a 'dog in the manger' attitude......if we can't have one, no-one else should, eithersad

They are currently only available from the Global warehouse. If they stock them in the UK, then there may be some grounds to question the decision, although as far as I am aware it is not yet illegal to possess one in the UK!

Aren't we just showing a bit of the green-eyed monster about the opportunity being presented to other, non-UK, modellers?

Pete

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