Sooner or later..someone had to put these two together.

[sheldor]

If skydiving doesn't quite do it for you, you could always strap a jet engine to your chest. That's what Bob Maddox did until discretion got the better of him and he decided a jet-powered bicycle might be a little safer.

Maddox, an artist and cabinetmaker in Medford, Ore., has been tinkering with pulse jet engines for seven years now. He's recently started bolting them to old-school cruiser bicycles and selling them on eBay, and a video of him riding one is bouncing around the blogosphere.

We got ahold of him at his workshop, where he's wrapping up a sweet purple jet bike for a customer in the Netherlands. He's only built two so far. He got the first one up to 50 mph but backed off when visions of catastrophic wheel failure danced in his head. He figures the bikes will hit 75 if anyone's got the guts to do it.

"When you're on a motorcycle going 50 mph, you don't think anything about it," he told us. "But on a bicycle, it feels way too fast."

And loud. Way too loud.

"It's loud like a top alcohol dragster loud," he says. "It'll pop your ear drums if you aren't wearing protective gear. That's a drawback to the engines."

No kidding.

Pulse jet technology dates to the beginning of the 20th Century when they were developed in Sweden. Germany used them during World War II to propel the V-1 "buzz bombs" they hurled at England during the Blitz of 1944. The exceedingly simple internal combustion engines that will run on just about anything and remain popular with hobbyists.

"It'll run on propane, gas, kerosene, absolutely anything except cryogenic fuel," he says. "They'd run on peanut oil if you want."



http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/jet-powered-bic.html

[Geekyfanboy]

I just have one question... WHY!!!