What Every Backyard Needs — A Jet Engine Powered Merry-Go-Round

By Tuesday September 29, 2009



16 Comments
  1. pedro says:
    9/29/2009 at 5:00 am

    Too much time on their hands. But boy, sure looks fun!

    Reply
  2. Olo Baggins of Bywater says:
    9/29/2009 at 5:03 am

    A work of art.

    Wonder what the guy in the middle was doing.

    Reply
  3. qb says:
    9/29/2009 at 5:17 am

    I see a Myth Buster’s episode coming out of this one day.

    Reply
  4. Improbus says:
    9/29/2009 at 5:31 am

    The cutting edge of redneck technology.

    Reply
  5. chris says:
    9/29/2009 at 7:16 am

    Sign at start of video should say “This WILL eventually kill you.”

    If the two riders’ weights differed significantly I doubt that base would stop the gizmo from toppling.

    Still, got to love morons with video cameras.

    Reply
  6. Buzz says:
    9/29/2009 at 7:49 am

    There needs to be a new institution in the world: The Guinness Book Of Darwin Awards.

    Reply
  7. the flammer says:
    9/29/2009 at 9:37 am

    I thought that was going to go A LOT faster. Still everything is better when you strap a jet engine to it

    Reply
  8. Ron Larson says:
    9/29/2009 at 10:05 am

    Wow… those were two really brave, or dumb, passengers. I noticed they didn’t bother to wear motorcycle helmets for head protection in the event of an equipment failure. It looked to me like the contraption could either (a) fly apart, or (b) fall over. Either way, the passengers would have been in a serious world of hurt.

    I also noticed that one of the jets had a rather long flame blasting out of the tail. I was wondering if it might get long enough to reach the other passenger and burn him.

    Reply
  9. noname says:
    9/29/2009 at 10:44 am

    You get dizzy, very dizzy. When I snap my lighter, you will be a swirling bird. Snap!

    Now fly my winged friend, fly.

    Reply
  10. dude12 says:
    9/29/2009 at 12:58 pm

    Shouldn’t the video begin with someone saying “hey man, hold my beer and watch this!”?

    Reply
  11. nunyac says:
    9/29/2009 at 8:21 pm

    Wonder where they got the pulse jets. Haven’t seen one of those in quiet a while.
    nunyac

    Reply
  12. deowll says:
    9/29/2009 at 8:37 pm

    Somehow or other I doubt if they’d let us put one of those on the school playground. ?8^)

    Reply
  13. Glenn E. says:
    9/29/2009 at 11:19 pm

    Did Popular Mechanics magazine sponsor this folly. They sure are desperate to get an audience these days. The middle guy probably operated some cutoff control. That ibeam anchored in the ground wasn’t going anywhere. So that was likely the safest place to stand. I pity the cameraman and onlookers. They ran the risk of flying debris hitting them. It looks like they used a simple “ramjet” design. Not the kind of jet engine any commercial plane uses. They were started with a simple leaf blower. That got the compression cycle going in each engine. The Germans probably used something like that to start up their V-1s, back in WW2. These were probably custom built ramjets. Maybe relics of some Monster Car show.

    I’d have been more impressed if they had built a solar powered electric “Merry-Go-Round”, instead of this dangerous gas powered daredevil thing. Which is more centrifuge than a kids ride. But I guess Pop-Mech isn’t into being “green”, or safe. They appear to be venturing into “Jackass” land.

    Reply
  14. Fun Games Cars and Jet Engines says:
    9/30/2009 at 12:07 am

    Even better and more dangerous than a backyard trampoline

    Reply
  15. Toxic Asshead says:
    9/30/2009 at 9:29 am

    #13 – the point is to release some carbon and have fun doing something cool. There is nothing cool about being “green”.

    Reply
  16. Rick Cain says:
    9/30/2009 at 6:56 pm

    This is truly the Chindogu of science.

    Reply

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