APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build

[tauruck]

Nice frame and wheels.
All you need is a fairing.

[Mobacken Racing]

He he, no bike frame around this engine. I got an offer I couldn´t resist from a guy I know who bought it from England without knowing that the starter, ignition and some temp probes were missing, he tried to source parts but gave up eventually so he sold it to me.

I know a couple of guys who owns Vipers so I think I can get the probes and ignition modules, a cheap starter is hard to find but I am planning to build a hydraulic starter motor for it.



When it is ready I will probably run it just for fun a while to get used to running it, later it might end up in some kind of chassis but I am a bit short of workshop space as you can see so I will need to build a larger workshop first...

Cheers!
/Anders

[manta22]

OK Anders, since no one else has asked this question, I will-- what engine is that?

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[maj]

one of my mates has a few Vipers complete and spares , not sure on which model that is exactly but let me know what you need and i can ask 

[Mobacken Racing]

It is a Viper 301 (522 is the civil name), I am very interested in some spares if he has any. Especially the starter, two ignitor boxes and the thermocouples for the jet pipe.

----------

I removed the engine from the frame last night to fit the temp probes and fix a few air leaks.



The probes and the temp displays arrived a few days ago so time to get busy!



I drilled a 5mm hole in the compressor cover between two diffusor slots, it is the smaller one right next to one of the fastening bolts for the cover.



A small brass sleeve was made and the temp probe was glued to it with epoxy, the sleeve fits the hole and will be locked in place with a strip of metal held by the fastening bolt for the cover.



While waiting for the glue to set I fitted the TIT probe, it projects through a hole in the combustor downstream the teritary holes.



Cheers!
/Anders

[wobblywalrus]

Anders, type "Mike Charlton Jet Bike" into your search engine.  He uses a big motor like your new one. 

[Mobacken Racing]

Anders, type "Mike Charlton Jet Bike" into your search engine.  He uses a big motor like your new one. 

Thats an interesting guy for sure, is he still racing his bike and has he taken any records? The articles I found was a couple of years old, that´s why I am asking.

[wobblywalrus]

Anders, someone on this site might know.  He did not race at BUB so I never got a chance to meet him.  He did run the bike on the salt a few years ago. 

[55chevr]

I believe the jet  bike streamliner ran at Cook's 2 years ago.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I can look at the photos of Mike and his bike and find the dates from them.  I think it was more than just two years ago -- will let you know when I find 'em.  Above all else Nancy and I remember being in the Motel 6 one night and hearing this "whoooshing" noise outdoors followed by very bright light coming through the curtains in our room.  We looked outside -- and there, in the parking lot behind the Knight's Inn next to M6, was Mike and his crew and his bike.  He was running the engine for some test or another and it made for a spectacular display.

Only at Wendover (or, I guess, next door to Mike's house) do you get to see stuff like that.

[Mobacken Racing]

After fixing some air leaks I put the engine back together and fitted it into the frame again, here is your truly posing with a screwdriver while taking a picture with his left hand.



After the posing I welded the old jet nozzle to the exhaust pipe.



When it had cooled down a bit I fitted it to the engine, this jet nozzle has produced a 740°C TOT at 2.6bar P2 so now I have some numbers to compare the upcoming test results with.



With the engine in the frame I could fit the temp probes without risking to break them.



Finally I fitted the digital gauges to the dashboard and hooked them up, if they work fine I will get a couple more since they were very cheap compared to the analogue exhaust temp gauge I use to read the TOT.



Cheers!
/Anders

[Mobacken Racing]

I can look at the photos of Mike and his bike and find the dates from them.  I think it was more than just two years ago -- will let you know when I find 'em.  Above all else Nancy and I remember being in the Motel 6 one night and hearing this "whoooshing" noise outdoors followed by very bright light coming through the curtains in our room.  We looked outside -- and there, in the parking lot behind the Knight's Inn next to M6, was Mike and his crew and his bike.  He was running the engine for some test or another and it made for a spectacular display.

Only at Wendover (or, I guess, next door to Mike's house) do you get to see stuff like that.

That must have been quite a thing to witness.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Yes, it was spectacular.  Before he shut it down there were a few dozen racers and friends our there watching.  He shut down, tweaked something, and started again.  A couple of times.  I think he quit in about 15 minutes total, having decided that any more would get him a visit by the Wendover police.

I stayed in that motel two weeks ago and didn't think to visit the chain link fence out back - to see if there were any burn marks still there.

[55chevr]

Slim ... you are probably correct ... everything that wasn't last year is 2 years ago to me. or 3.

Joe

[Mobacken Racing]

I did the gas producer test today, the added jet nozzle made the exhaust temps even higher so I didn´t press the engine overly much.



The T2 gauge interfered with the camera somehow causing the numbers to roll over the display, but they can still be seen fortunately. I have started on an Excel sheet where I enter all the data from each run so I have a couple of hours of work with that ahead of me.

http://youtu.be/mo8Z0GDytks

I will also punch some numbers to find out if the T2 is in the ball park, my gut feeling is that if I open up the exhaust a bit the engine is just fine.

If I want to have the bike ready for the race in february I need to find the quick fix and get the bike up and running, and right now I think that opening up the power turbine NGV a bit will make the exhaust temps drop to acceptable levels. Finding that last ounce of power in the engine can be done later, now I want to get it ready for the race track!

Cheers!
/Anders