In article , DJFawcett26 says...

That is exactly what the pulse detonation wave engine is. As a matter of fact,
NASA showed one at Oshkosh.

Actually, that was the USAF/Wright Field that showed the PDE. They are working
with Scaled and
some others. It was built from some Inconel tubes, two Olds Quad 4 cylinder
heads, a Hirth motor,
two Vortech superchargers, and a lot of connective bits. For a military research
project, it's dirt
cheap.

They are going to fly it on a Long (not the one showed at OSH, it has become the
mockup/mule) as
a demonstration, but it is really mostly raw combustion research, and the
outcome of the research
is expected to be an engine for robotic, not manned, air vehicles. For one
thing, it makes 190 dB
at the tailpipe.

Mike Melvill is scheduled to fly it, adding another unique type to his logbook.
The purpose of the
manned flight is to get the attention of the Air Force brass -- pilots, after
all.

An earlier version of the engine has run for 200 hours on the bench.

cheers

-=K=-

Rule #1: Don't hit anything big.