An early turbojet prototype.
An early turbojet prototype. Sal Aiello (www.salvatoreaiello.com)
SHARE

Earlier today, I came upon the site of a man who is building his own jet-powered motorcycle. That’s right. He’s converting turbochargers into jet engines and building a motorcycle around them. But that’s not all; there are apparently a lot of these crazies out there. Here’s a look at some.

The main components in a turbojet are the compressor, the combustion chamber, and the exhaust turbine. Although the physical configuration is different, turbochargers provide two of those three parts; namely the compressor and the turbine. Adding a combustion chamber more or less completes the package. Some bold DIY adventurers, having realized this, have gone a bit wild.

Sal Aiello’s Jet Project website does a great job of describing how people are building DIY turbojet engines. It also shows his work in progress: The Jet Cycle. Have a look in the attached photo gallery and these videos for a sampling of some of the other DIY jet projects out there.

And, if you need a hilarious way to spend three more minutes, there’s always these Jet Trucks.

The author is not entirely convinced that this will end well.

Jet Cycle

The author is not entirely convinced that this will end well.
Testing the Turbojet.

Jet Test

Testing the Turbojet.
Part of Sal's combustion chamber, with the ignitor.

Combustion Cap

Part of Sal’s combustion chamber, with the ignitor.
R/C aircraft enthusiast Don Giandomenico's beautiful Turbojet project. Visit his website for all of the details of this meticulous build.

GR-1 Turbojet Project

R/C aircraft enthusiast Don Giandomenico’s beautiful Turbojet project. Visit his website for all of the details of this meticulous build.
Turbojet go-kart, courtesy of <a href="http://www.turbokart.com">www.turbojet.com</a>. The turbojet itself is not a DIY build like the others in this gallery, but I couldn't resist including this picture.

Turbojet Go-Kart

Turbojet go-kart, courtesy of www.turbojet.com. The turbojet itself is not a DIY build like the others in this gallery, but I couldn’t resist including this picture.
An early turbojet prototype.

Whittle multi turbojet

An early turbojet prototype.
Projects