Star Wars Landspeeder Ride-On Children’s Toy Modded with Jet Engine

Because almost every mode of transportation is improved with more horsepower, inventor and YouTuber Joel Creates replaced the pathetically underpowered 12-volt motors of a children’s Star Wars Landspeeder toy with a small jet engine. And, I think I speak for every speed-lover here when I say, where was this when I was a kid? Also, where the heck was the Bigfoot Power Wheels that was on the top of my birthday list every year?

The modding included locking the back wheels in place to prevent the landspeeder from only doing donuts and adding an R/C controller so the person riding in it (or somebody else you trust with your safety) can steer. Now that looks like fun. I wish my friends did fun stuff like this on weekends. Or maybe they do, and they just don’t invite me.

I was just thinking of adding a jet engine to my nephew’s Radio Flyer wagon; now, I can show this to my sister as a proof of concept. Will she actually let me add the engine? Of course not, but that won’t stop me from telling my nephew I was going to, but his mom wouldn’t let me. I really hope he takes that into consideration while casting his ballot for World’s Greatest Uncle.

[via TechEBlog]

Artist Makes Giant Jet Engine Ceiling Fan for Rolls-Royce

A couple of years back, I came across some unique ceiling fans designed to look like the fan blades from a jet engine. Now, the artist behind these awe-inspiring fans is back, and he’s showing off his biggest build yet. Commissioned by jet engine maker Rolls-Royce, this gigantic fan measure an amazing 113 inches in diameter.

Kurt Eldrup of Phighter Images and Aviation Flying Furniture fabricated the fan’s blades to replicate the look of Rolls’ lightweight carbon composite and titanium CTi fan blades, and will ultimately be painted to match the look of the real jet engine (as shown below).

In order to ensure that the fan spins smoothly and in balance, each blade was precision-cut using a CNC waterjet machine. Each of the fan’s 18 blades measures a whopping 45″ long, and there’s a 23″ diameter conical spinner at its center. You can check out a little footage of the fan spinning at a low speed in the video below. Rolls wants it to spin at a fairly slow speed so people can admire its design, but its builder assures us that the motor could be cranked up to about 10 times the speed shown here.

Kurt went so far as to build a custom wall switch for the fan, using aviation-inspired designs and incorporating the iconic Rolls-Royce logo.

The fan is headed to the Rolls-Royce North America headquarters in Reston, Virginia, where it will be permanently installed as the centerpiece of the office.

We’re looking forward to seeing the finished fan once it’s installed. You can check out more of Kurt’s aviation-inspired fans, gifts, decor, and furniture over on his website.

Bloodhound’s supersonic car hit 628MPH in under a minute

Not long ago, the Bloodhound supersonic car was on the brink of bankruptcy, and the project came close to shutting down altogether. But after test runs at the Hakskeen Pan dry lake bed race track in South Africa, the car seems to be pulling ahead. It...

A cup of jet-engine brewed coffee!

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Coffee and jet-propellers are both synonymous with energy and vigor. Apparently, that’s enough to combine the two into a product that looks as powerful and strong as the brew it produces!

The Aviatore Veloce is a quarter-scaled recreation of a jet engine… that also makes espresso! Slide open the top, place your coffee grounds and water in their respective areas and power the machine and the Aviatore Veloce uses its high-pressure brewing system to prepare single servings of espresso (or even tea if you swap the coffee grounds for tea leaves).

The Aviatore Veloce is even made from aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, stainless steel and aluminum bronze to give it its authentic feel. Limited to just a 100 pieces, I imagine the Avaitore Veloce is perfect for boardrooms at Boeing and Airbus… of for someone who really needs a jet-engine coffee maker to ‘turbocharge’ their morning! If you’re into this sort of thing, boy do we have the perfect chandelier for you!

Designer: Superveloce

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Jet Engine-Powered Merry-Go-Round Is a Scary-Go-Round

I’m too big of a chicken for most carnival rides. All I can think about is something going wrong and me dying. If you’re going endanger your life, go big or go home. Ride a merry-go-round powered by real jet engines rocketing you around in circles, like some crazy cartoon contraption.

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zoom in

Photo by Gillian Gutenberg

This insane ride was built by the Brooklyn-based Madagascar Institute, and has shown up at a few fairs over the last several years. It only accommodates two riders, because if you had more, everyone would be hit in the face by the afterburners. If you punched those jet engines to the max, you could probably pull some serious Gs.

[via Sploid via The Awesomer]

Cool Your Jets in This Jet Engine Chair

If you’re looking for the latest in Bond super villain furniture, look no further. This jet engine chair is the perfect place to relax and stroke your cat while laughing maniacally. You can buy two and have one be fully operational, so you can trick your enemies into sitting back and getting sucked into the blades.

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This chair is made from the cowling of Boeing 737’s massive jet engine and it looks pretty sweet. They don’t list a price because most of us can’t afford one. What we do know that it features a polished aluminum swiveling base and an interior upholstered with black leather.

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I’m not sure how you will get this in your front door, but most villain’s lairs can just fly a helicopter overhead, then lower it through the retractable roof they use for launching missiles.

[via Home Crux via Gizmodo]

3D Printed Jet Engine Scale Model Features Advanced Hand Crank Technology

General Electric has a great project for aviation enthusiasts, makers and 3D printer owners who are desperate to prove to people that their device can make awesome things. It’s a 3D model of one of its jet engines. It has a hand crank and is depicted in a cutaway view, so you can see how its parts move and interact.

3d printed hand cranked jet engine scale model by general electricmagnify

Zoom to Thingiverse to download GE’s jet engine scale model 3D template, then check out the assembly instructions below. GE also made a gift box template for the toy.

3d printed jet engine instructionsmagnify

[via GE]

GE partners with Livermore Labs to explore efficient aircraft fuel injectors (video)

GE partners with Livermore Labs to explore efficient aircraft fuel injectors (video)
What would you do with six months of dedicated access to 261.3 teraflops of computational power? As you ponder that question, consider the case of GE Global Research, which has just announced its participation with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in an effort to design more powerful and efficient aircraft engines by way of computer simulation. Specifically, GE will partner with researchers from Arizona State University and Cornell University to study the unsteady spray phenomena that's thought to be ideal for fuel injectors. Through Large Eddy Simulation, GE hopes to discover an ideal spray pattern and fuel injector design, and reduce its number of lengthy, real-world optimization trials. While the research is initially aimed at aircraft engines, the knowledge gained from these experiments may work its way into GE's other products, such as locomotive engines and land-based gas turbines. For a glimpse into GE's current research, be sure to hop the break.

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GE partners with Livermore Labs to explore efficient aircraft fuel injectors (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 06:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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