Terrorists don't need to Hijack a plane--

[CCWKen]

They can build their own...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2583739939&category=26261

I wonder what kind of missle this would make?

[JCHannum]

Puts you in mind of the urban legend about the guy who strapped a JATO rocket to his '68 Chevy.

[BillH]

Hmm, would make a neat generator, which is what an APU is.
THeres a guy in New Zealand who is building his own Cruise missile. All the parts are off the shelf, mostly model airplane stuff. The amateur UAV hobby also has all those parts needed for guidance control. Not very complicated to do, just cost a little money.

[rbregn]

I read about the jato dude along time ago and still chuckle when I think about! Have you seen a copy of it lately? I lost mine.
Rob

[CCWKen]

JC - Back in the late 60's when I lived outside of Akron, Ohio you could hear Art Arfons fire up his jet dragster. He lived about a mile away. Even though he tested inside a building, it was loud. Back then, most of the area was farm land but everyone seemed to be into "cars".

Within a mile radius, you could get a custom paint job, Stock car or dragster chassis, 500+ci engine and a fiberglass body. Not to mention all the go-kart and cycle shops. Wild area in those days.

[brunneng]

On the JATO dude. If you watch Mythbusters they did that one. Couldn't get a hold of a military JATO so they used large amateur rocket motors and ended up with more thrust. Setup a full sized remote control car for it. Didn't get off the ground but moved pretty good.

[JCHannum]

CCWKen, there also was a guy by the name of Ohio George Montgomery. Remember the gasser wars?
Back in the early 60's, I pit crewed for a friend with a blown hemi rail, stood on the line when the original Swamp Rat ran. Knew Garlits before he got burned.
I saw the original Green Monster, Allison aircraft engine and some wheels. It was almost eerie, it was so much quieter than the rails and much faster.

[CCWKen]

Wow, that brought back such fond memories, I did a Google on "Art Arfons". Check this out.

http://www.americanjetcars.com/arfons/art/art17.htm

There's many more articles there. Man! Those were the days. That's when I got my start in painting and bodywork (Real body work--metal forming and leading). Learned a lot from my uncle. My uncle knew all those guys. My uncle (Dave Kopsky) and Groff did most of Art's painting. That was the day when Metal Flake was so deep, it looked like you could reach in and grab the driveshaft.

[Thrud]

That is a big chopper engine - same thing they stick in an APU to start jet fighters, B-52's, etc.. APU's supply juice and/or compressed air for start ups - the ones the Canadian forces use are 5,000HP or less - don't know how big the American APU's are.

[Paul Alciatore]

If you think that is something, when I was living in the Miami area, I visited some scrap yards. One of the gems I spotted there was a liquid fuel rocket engine - full sized dude. Looked like it could have come off an upper stage or perhaps one of the shorter range missiles. No idea what the condition was.

Wish I had a few thousand to pick it up. Just for fun.

Paul A.

[Evan]

Waitaminute,

There are APUs and there are GPUs. The APUs generally supply electricity and hydraulic pressure. Ground Support Equipment such as the Ground Power Units (also known as a Air Start Unit) supply electricity and air pressure for starting. The APUs are nowhere near 5000 hp. For example, the shuttle APUs are 135 hp.

GPUs are similar but may be a few hundred hp. Many are diesel.

[rbregn]

I found the jato dude! http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1995-04.html

[docsteve66]

First time I heard the JATO story was in 1959, an Air force Major used to tell it with embellishments. In his version it was at at Albuquerque NM. Kid had a 52 plymouth, lost his girl friend to a man with a ford. Put jato bottles on, thumped his throttle at a red light side by side with ford. Kept up with ford until about 40MPH, Ford gained distance. kid tripped JATOs, passed the ford while ford was doing 100 plus. some time the kids wheels were spinning in reverse. some times all four tires were locked up, smoking. Some times, Kid run into a tractor trailer, pushed the rig down the road.

Its a legend, as is (i think) the lawn chair balloon story- which G Gordon Liddy tells well.
Steve

[BillH]

The lawn chair story with all the balloons is in fact a true story. The other day I watched a tv special about urban myths, either on history or discovery channel I think. They did that specific one with the lawn chair, its a true story.

[Yankee1]

The DC-10 APU and GPU's are almost identical
except the GPU is a ground unit that supplies air for cranking the main engines through a hose into a coupling from outside
the airplane after it satisfies its own cooling requirements. An APU does the same thing through internal ducting in the airplane and is mounted in the airplane.
Garrett Air Research Model 90's are used
for both applications. Without being connected to a maxim silencer they are deafening while running.Normally when working on them they are connected to a maxim silencer that is mounted on a metal post and aimed at an angle upward toward the sky with that same airstart hose.And using earmuffs they are still very very loud.