Testing things out

The bike isn't completely done until all the testing is done. The idea is to make sure everything is tip top before going to paint. We would hate to have to ruin a new paint job to add a bracket or trim a part just because the bike wasn't running 100% Because of this, the bike will undergo a series of very rigorous tests before being disassembled for sandblasting and painting.

First in frame test of the jet bike

This video was shot on April 15th 2007 (tax day!) and was the first run of the engine in the bike chassis with all of the ancillary components installed. Full testing was not done, as we are taking baby steps to avoid any possibilities of a meltdown. The video definitely gets the point across though! (For fun, stop the video and use the 'step' buttons to see how big the afterburner pop is!)

Things went according to plan and there weren't any issues. Testing went so well in fact, that far more testing has gone on that we originally anticipated. The videos following this one are of testing that took place over the first two weekends.

Low velocity afterburner testing

With the engine now running, we wanted to test the afterburner ignition system. Taking baby steps again, testing was first done at low velocity air speeds. To do this, the leaf blower was used as our air source and propane was used as the fuel. The video is pretty much self explanatory about the results.

Night time low velocity afterburner test

Now that we knew the afterburner ignition would work, we wanted to try things in the dark. Since only one side of the afterburner has an ignition, the flame must travel through a propagation tube to ignite the other side. Testing in the dark allows us to examine the video frame by frame to see how well the flame is propagating.

Afterburner high velocity test

The next day after doing the afterburner ignition tests at low velocity, we ran tests to check for ignition with the engine running. The tests were not as successful, due primarily to the propane we were fueling the afterburner with. We just could not get enough fuel to the afterburners.

Afterburner high velocity test 2

This is the second test for the afterburners with the engine running. Again, we need more fuel. We are achieving ignition, but there is not enough fuel to sustain the combustion process. We will try again soon with liquid fuel instead of the propane.

Water injection test

With testing going so well, we decided to go ahead an do some preliminary tests on the water injection system. The testing showed a few issues, most notable was the need for larger injectors to flow more water. If successful, the water injection system will add power to the engine and give us more thrust and higher top end speed.

More testing is scheduled for very soon, and we will also be getting our new load cell system for thrust testing. Please keep checking in for new updates an remember to support the site. If you haven't already, please consider telling a friend about us too. We love to see new viewers to the site! Until next time!

Russ W. Moore
and
The Bad Brothers Racing Build Team

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