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Comment by tsaprailis | Hacker News Reader

My question when I first saw this was where do you get such jet engines? They look small enough to be from any kind of plane/UAV, but also quite large for any small model aircraft.

I wonder how easy it is to get one, do you by any chance need any sort of special license to operate them?

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Get this puppy: http://www.amtjets.com/pdf/Nike_specification.pdf or this bad boy: http://www.amtjets.com/lynx.php

I'm pretty sure they are JetCat RC engines (based on the purple cowling): http://www.dreamworksrc.com/catalog/Jetcat-Engines

It's worth noting that these jet engines are actually just car/truck turbo chargers that were repurposed and placed in a relatively simple combustion sleeve. You can actually build your own fairly easily with little more than a trip to the junk yard.

Look for model jet engines they get to be surprisingly big. I haven't looked them up in a number of years but I wanted to build a jet powered bike in a previous life and if I remember right the only thing stopping me was price. Also runtime sucked for them all.

For between about $2500 and $4500 (depending on thrust), you can get a small model jet engine: http://www.chiefaircraft.com/radio-control/turbine-engines/j...

I love these things. I love enabling gadgets that enable hobbyists and garage entrepreneurs to do crazy things like this that would normally require a military program to fund.

They could also be suspenders for motor-gliders. Like these from the Netherlands:

http://www.amtjets.com/

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