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Jet-Powered Wheelchair

gpmcdermott writes "What does a man with too much time, a jet engine, and his mother-in-law's wheelchair, do? The BBC is reporting on the results on the Beeb."

62 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. What's he doing? by romper · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'd say he's trying to get rid of his Mother-in-Law.

    --
    Right is wrong when left is right.
    1. Re:What's he doing? by Nos. · · Score: 5, Funny

      I know I've considered attaching a jet engine to my mother in law before. Of course she's not in a wheel chair, but moving her a few hundred miles away quickly would be a desireable outcome!

    2. Re:What's he doing? by Ignignot · · Score: 4, Funny

      Like how that old hag in gremlins got shot out of her house on the sup'd up stair climber?

      That movie always warms the cockles of my tiny heart.

      --
      I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
    3. Re:What's he doing? by jaaron · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd say he's trying to get rid of his Mother-in-Law

      Oh, and here I was thinking he was shooting for a Darwin Award.

      --
      Who said Freedom was Fair?
    4. Re:What's he doing? by swordboy · · Score: 4, Informative

      For those also interested in trying to get rid of their mother-in-laws, check out Nye Thermodynamics. This guy has made turbine engines out of automotive turbochargers, put helicopter engines into boats, and just plain done some cool stuff with turbines.

      --

      Life is the leading cause of death in America.
    5. Re:What's he doing? by dcphoenix · · Score: 3, Funny

      But, wouldn't that be a waste of a perfectly good jet engine? Well, that is unless you actually went those few hundred miles to recover it.......

    6. Re:What's he doing? by JustAnotherReader · · Score: 3, Funny
      I'd say he's trying to get rid of his Mother-in-Law

      So this guy is sitting in his living room and it's raining cats and dogs outside. The wind's howling and it's just pouring. There's a knock at the door so he gets up to answer it. He opens the door and his mother in law is standing there. The man says: "Oh my gosh. Don't just stand there in the rain getting soaking wet. Go Home! " Thanks. I'm here all week. Please tip your wait staff.

  2. Peering into my crystal ball... by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    I'm not claiming to be psychic but my gut feeling is that Giuseppe Cannella's last words will be "Hey, watch this!"

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  3. Candidate for improvement? by VinceWuzHere · · Score: 4, Funny
    What, no skid lid? (see photo in story)... Hmmm... Why do I suspect that, after many attempts, this fellow will be featured here?

    For his next projects, Giuseppe will be working on Jet-Powered Segways, aptly to be named JetWays.

  4. Wtf? by SirStanley · · Score: 3, Funny

    Did anyone else notice this guy NOT WEARING a helmet?

    --
    --------========+++Dont Feed The Lab Techs+++========--------
    1. Re:Wtf? by MikeMacK · · Score: 5, Funny

      Really, if he's not careful he's going to wind up in a wheelchair.

    2. Re:Wtf? by FCAdcock · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wearing a helmet on a jet powered wheelchair would be like giving someone a kite to jump out of a plane with.

      --
      --Forest C. Adcock--
    3. Re:Wtf? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Typical liberal.

      How exactly does HIS failure to wear a helmet affect YOU?

      I guess under your socialist heathcare system YOU'LL be forced to pay for HIS medical expenses.

    4. Re:Wtf? by lucabrasi999 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I guess under your socialist heathcare system YOU'LL be forced to pay for HIS medical expenses

      Uh, did you RTFA? He lives in England. Their healthcare system IS socialist. More socialist than the US, anyway.

    5. Re:Wtf? by PopCulture · · Score: 3, Insightful

      at speeds "up to" 60 mph, its more like giving someone a motorcycle helmet to drive a motorcycle...

      --

      Here's to finally giving Bush his exit strategy in November
    6. Re:Wtf? by doofusclam · · Score: 5, Informative

      I have seen him interviewed on the BBC, and the reason he didn't wear the lid was so he could hear if the jet was going to go wrong and if so abort. This is what racing drivers used to do in the 50s and 60s when engines were prone to seizing mid-race. He's plainly nuts, but I salute his cojones.

      seany

    7. Re:Wtf? by Class+Act+Dynamo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Upon seeing him in a wheelchair, one asks, "What happened to you?"
      His answer, "Wheelchair accident"
      I could see wheelchair companies selling these to drum up "regular" wheelchair business. Sort of like the funeral home operator that gives away free donuts every day.

      --
      My other computer is a Jacquard loom.
  5. Duckman.... by mark0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Tell me that first picture doesn't make you think of Duckman's grandma-in-law.

  6. Ha ha! by east+coast · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... Christoper Reeves!

    --
    Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
    1. Re:Ha ha! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Whats the opposite of Christoper Reeves?

      Christopher Walken.

  7. Going to Hell faster now by kippy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does Stephen Hawking know about this yet?

    This is probably a step down frmo his exeskeleton suit though...

    1. Re:Going to Hell faster now by ggvaidya · · Score: 5, Funny

      Does Stephen Hawking know about this yet?

      This is probably a step down frmo his exeskeleton suit though...

      Now that was really below the belt.

  8. The corvette of wheelchairs by wackysootroom · · Score: 3, Funny

    Great, now I can run that bigshot down the hall from me at the seniors home with the Racsal right out of the hallway.

    I'm fact, I'll be the first one to the bingo table!

  9. Obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you had a mother-in-law and a jet engine, what else would you do?

  10. That's it! by zymurgyboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    If the ADA crowd starts getting these en masse, then we should get some of those primo parking spaces back. It's only fair.

    --
    If you never make mistakes, it's probably because you're not doing anything.
  11. Re:It can't get any simpler- by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is old news. Doesn't anyone watch the AOL commercials? They've already attached the AOL optimizer to a wheelchair, a motorcycle, and a hot rod! The hot rod must have hit 88.8 miles per hour (and 1.21 JIGGAWATTS of electricity!) because it went back in time! ;-)

  12. On the other hand ... by rlp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    At least it wasn't a JATO unit. See Snopes

    --
    [Insert pithy quote here]
    1. Re:On the other hand ... by cecille · · Score: 5, Interesting

      A little while ago I was reading some snopes at work (bored) and somehow I managed to surf over to this story. Very long, but incedibly interesting.

      --
      ...no two people are not on fire.
  13. My advice: by Short+Circuit · · Score: 3, Funny

    Innovate while you can. Just stay away from anything that'll get you targeted as a terrorist.

    Oh, wait...I just pictured the elderly rushing road blocks. Too late...

  14. If you like that one by Prince+Vegeta+SSJ4 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Check out THIS baby. 85mph with 300LBS of thrust?!?!?

  15. Re:a movie by kjeldor · · Score: 2, Informative

    That would be the masterpiece of cinema: Freddy Got Fingered. And who could forget her fetish for being whacked on the legs with a big piece of wood? Classic movie.

  16. he just has a jet engine laying around by FCAdcock · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe I'm just behind on my new geek toys, but who the heck just has jet engines laying around their house?

    --
    --Forest C. Adcock--
    1. Re:he just has a jet engine laying around by slyckshoes · · Score: 2, Informative

      Mostly people who are really into flying remote controlled (RC) airplanes and have a lot of money. Check out this site: http://www.bairdtech.com/bmt/ for an example of what you can get.

  17. It's actually a subterfuge by CdBee · · Score: 3, Funny

    Cannella is actually preparing for the X-Prize, this is just a land-based test launch.

    Team Cannella's orbiter vehicle will have radiation shields made of old kettles.

    --
    I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
  18. I know, I know by Todd+Fisher · · Score: 5, Funny

    What does a man with too much time, a jet engine, and his mother-in-law's wheelchair, do?
    He probably wathces a lot of porn.

    --


    --I'm not talking about dance lessons. I'm talking about putting a brick through the other guy's windshield.-
  19. BIG jet engine on a F-350 by notthepainter · · Score: 2, Interesting
    About 20 years ago, a friend of mine worked for the Dept of Transportation working on embassy securty, gates and fences mostly.

    In addition to protecting the buildings, they also looked at methods of payload delivery. The coolest one was of course the big jet engine bolted to a Ford F-350. I don't know how the tests went but I just KNOW what the enigeers were doing the night before brass was invited...

  20. Gremlins by Jakhel · · Score: 2

    Am I the only person who thought of the scene in the movie "Gremlins" when the gremlins caused the mean old lady's wheelchair to speed up so fast that she flew out of the window when trying to roll down the stairs?

  21. One word: by TrentL · · Score: 4, Funny

    TIMMY!

  22. Call Guinness (the book, not beer) by MikeMacK · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, what is the land speed wheelchair record?

  23. Really, this isn't a stupid as it appears by YU+Nicks+NE+Way · · Score: 5, Funny

    I mean, depending on where the engine is mounted relative to the center of mass of the chair/dude combo, it might not be all that dangerous. After all, if the direction of the jet is exactly lined up with the centor of mass, and the rider never moves even at all, why, it could even hit a small bump without becoming airbor...

    On second thought, this is as stupid as it appears.

    1. Re:Really, this isn't a stupid as it appears by T-Kir · · Score: 2, Funny

      Plus for added stupidity, the mother-in-law also has Parkinsons disease, so I can't imagine her keeping it in a straight line!

      --
      Are you local? There's nothing for you here!
  24. How does he get it to stop? by Klowner · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does he just throw his mother-in-law overboard with some sort of tether?

    Was that socially inappropriate?

  25. This guy is crazy! And cool! by pair-a-noyd · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Anyone notice he's not wearing a HELMET ??

    Besides that, I have to say this is great.
    I have a friend with Parkinson's and he's gonna get a huge kick out of this.
    Thanks for digging this one up!

  26. -1 cruel by drsquare · · Score: 4, Funny

    He wouldn't have felt it then...

  27. Re:What will Stephen Hawking think of next? by ScottGant · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't forget, in the future Stephen Hawking, Al Gore, Nichelle Nichols and Gary Gygax make up "The Vice Presidential Action Rangers" whose job is to protect the space/time continuum!

    I miss Futurama

    --

    "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
  28. reincarnation of Lawnchair Larry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'd say this guy should me Lawnchair Larry, who attached helium weather balloons to his Sears aluminum lawnchair and tried to control his height with a pellet gun. He got cold and dropped the gun. oops

  29. Re:What will Stephen Hawking think of next? by mikael · · Score: 2, Informative

    Or he's Wah-Hu reincarnated


    Nearly all uses up to this time were for warfare or fireworks, but there is an interesting old Chinese legend that reported the use of rockets as a means of transportation. With the help of many assistants, a lesser-known Chinese official named Wan-Hu assembled a rocket- powered flying chair. Attached to the chair were two large kites, and fixed to the kites were forty- seven fire-arrow rockets.

    On the day of the flight, Wan-Hu sat himself on the chair and gave the command to light the rockets. Forty-seven rocket assistants, each armed with torches, rushed forward to light the fuses. In a moment, there was a tremendous roar accompanied by billowing clouds of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Wan-Hu and his flying chair were gone. No one knows for sure what happened to Wan-Hu, but it is probable that if the event really did take place, Wan-Hu and his chair were blown to pieces. Fire-arrows were as apt to explode as to fly.

    --
    Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  30. this is more fun by GuyFawkes · · Score: 3, Informative


    http://www.corestore.org/turbine.htm
    and the obligatory
    http://marineturbine.com/motorsports.a sp

    --
    http://slashdot.org/~GuyFawkes/journal
  31. Next Stop... by petepac · · Score: 5, Funny

    The AARP Winter Nationals!

    --
    >> Practice Safe Hex
  32. Timmah! by DigitalCrackPipe · · Score: 2, Funny

    So if this is anything like SouthPark will this create a wormhole and send the occupant back to the age of dinosaurs?

  33. Re:Helmets are expensive by shadowlordseth · · Score: 5, Informative

    Reading stuff like this brings tears to my eyes. On july 15 I was cut off while riding my 2000 r6. I was wearing a helmet (damn now its all scratched up), but that was all. I didnt get much road rash, so leathers wouldn't have helped much. I spent 2.5 weeks in the hospital (80k in med bills, anyone know of anyway to get help on uninsured med bills?), my pelvis is both shattered and broken, as is my wrist. I have 10 pins, and 2 external fixators. I will be out of work for atleast another 2 or 3 months. Lots of pain and stuff, lots of general badness, and lots of money troubles.

    Then i see people riding with out helmets, on tv, on the internet. Soon Virginia will get rid of its helmet law. I am really saddened when i see this kind of thing

  34. Sorry, This guy wins by El_Smack · · Score: 5, Funny

    Jet. Powered. Beer. Cooler.

    Best quote: " I knew from some long forgotten physics lecture that when a liquid expands into a gas it will draw heat from its surroundings. And I happened to have a source of a suitable liquid right in my shed in the form of a LPG cylinder (liquid petroleum gas). What I needed was a way to use up a lot of fuel very, very quickly. What I needed was a jet engine! "

    --


    There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
    1. Re:Sorry, This guy wins by axis-techno-geek · · Score: 2, Funny
      Call me crazy but I just put a refrigerator in my "shed", not nearly the wow factor, but more economical, and at 19 cubit feet, can hold lots of beer.

      --
      This is not the sig line you are looking for... -- Old Jedi Sig Line Trick
  35. Re:Helmets are expensive by KoolDude · · Score: 2, Insightful


    getting your cloths torn up (in non-cool-group approved ways) is expensive, but skin is cheap.

    I presume you take a similar stance in using condoms. :)

    --
    getSexySig(); /* returns sexy signature */
  36. Check out this jet powered recumbent bicycle by bburdette · · Score: 5, Informative
  37. no seatbelts either for early racers by hpulley · · Score: 4, Informative

    Early racecar drivers didn't wear seatbelts either as the fuel tanks were so prone to catching fire that it was better to be thrown out of your vehicle than to be strapped into it. With the development of the fuel cell, it is now much safer to be in a harness, of course but back then, 7/10 motorsport deaths were due to fire.

    --
    $#!^ happens, but why does it always have to happen to me???
  38. Re:Helmets are expensive by Rakshasa+Taisab · · Score: 5, Funny

    How did a helmet help you there? If you hadn't been wearing a helmet you would have avoided the hospital bill and the recovery time.

    --
    - These characters were randomly selected.
  39. Links? Details? Plans? by merlin_jim · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I myself am in a wheelchair and have been considering some "added mobility" features.

    I don't want plain old electric motors. I want to have to wheel myself around with muscle mass. I'm in a wheelchair. I need all the excercise I can get.

    But for longer distance or varying conditions, having other means is nice.

    Where are the details? plans? How do I outfit myself with a jet engine? What kind of jet engine is it? turbine? pulse jet?

    For the curious, my current plan is to hand build a wankel. Actually the whole engine will be hand built. Central keyed axle going through a series of flat modules; one power pack (battery+starter/generator), one wankel, one ducted fan assembly. The ducted fan will have two exhausts with louvres on the back to change the ratio of thrust to lift.

    The modules will be enclosed in aluminum. The mounting bolts will be electrically isolated from the chassis, and serve as power distribution. Fuel will come from a propane tank; I'll have an emergency camp stove propane tank to guarantee I can always get back to my car to swap out.

    That should give me a nice self contained bolt on ground effect system. I only plan on using it when on rough terrain (wheelchairs don't like gravel)... so I can buy a second chair and modify it for that purpose. When the GE engine is off, the chair will just sit on its legs (traditional style chair legs with big rubber feet for stability and traction)

    Hmmm does this mean it'll still be a wheelchair?

    But yeah I'd consider doing all/some of this with a jet engine; if I could find some details...

    --
    I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
  40. Re:Helmets are expensive by porlw · · Score: 4, Informative

    Decent leathers contain shock absorbing armour - the modern stuff is very effective and would almost certainly have helped reduce your injuries.

  41. Re:I for one, by Cornelius+Chesterfie · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ha ha ha! Oh gosh that's funny! That's really funny! Do you write your own material? Do you? Because that is so fresh. "I for one welcome our new X overlords". You know, I've, I've never heard anyone make that joke before. Hmm. You're the first. I've never heard anyone reference, reference that outside the program before. Because that's what Kent says on the show right? Isn't it? I for one welcome our new insect overlords. And, and yet you've taken that and used it out of context to obtain a +5 comment in this situation. God what a clever, smart guy you must be, to come up with a joke like that all by yourself. That's so fresh too. Any, any Soviet Russia jokes you want to throw at me too as long as we're hitting these phenomena at the height of their popularity. God you're so funny!

    -Stewie

  42. Re:Helmets are expensive by RESPAWN · · Score: 2

    Then i see people riding with out helmets, on tv, on the internet. Soon Virginia will get rid of its helmet law. I am really saddened when i see this kind of thing

    First, let me preface my comments by stating that I am very pro-helmet. It just plain makes sense to me.

    However, I don't feel that we should have legislation dictating that helmets must be worn. As I see it, if somebody is stupid enough to ride without a helmet (and yes, they are stupid), then they probably deserve to have their head cracked in an accident. I don't, however, see where this would have much effect on other parties, and so I see no reason that wearing a helmet should be mandated by law. In fact, I'm not sure we need people who don't wear helmets in the gene pool anyway...

    --

    If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will.

  43. Re:Helmets are expensive by vivian · · Score: 4, Informative

    I wrote off a CBR400 T-boning a car that pulled a U-turn right in front of me. I was probably doing about 25mph at impact (because I was able to break some before hitting), and flew over the back of the car. I was wearing full Dainese racing leathers, helmet gloves & boots.
    The gloves took a lot of damage, I slid into the gutter & hit my shin very hard on the curb and the bike ended up on my foot. my only injuries were a bit of bruising on my foot - the shin armor in the leathers spread the curb impact over my whole shin, so I didn't get hurt at all by that - but it would have broken my leg without the armor. The arm, shoulder area and & hip also took a bit of abrasion, and I was also a bit bruised on my hip, but again the padding there helped absorb a lot of the impact, so I reckon the $1000 investment in the leathers was definitely worth the money.

    Here's some info on abrasion resistance of different materials:
    Reprint from a
    Sept 88 "Cycle" magazine article "Abrasion Testing: Torn in the USA".

    Drag Test

    "For the Drag Test, samples were stitched to a bag that held a 75-pound
    sandbag inside a milk crate, then dragged behind a pickup truck..."

    New, 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 3' 10"
    Senior Balistic Nylon 3' 10"
    Leather, Lightweight, Nude Finish, 2.25 oz/sq. ft. 4' 3"
    Leather, Fashion Weight, 1.75 oz/sq ft. 4' 4"
    Two-year-old 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 4' 5"
    Cordura Nylon Type 440 18' 3"
    Kevlar 29 Aramid Fiber, Style 713 22' 1"
    Leather, Competition Weight, 3 oz/sq. ft. 86' 0"

    Taber Test

    "For the Taber Test, the specimen was mounted on a rotating platform and
    scuffed by two rubber-emery grinding wheels." The numbers represent the
    number of revolutions until the fabric totally fails. A vacuum clears
    debris.

    Two-year-old 100% Cotton Denim Jeans: 168
    New 100% Cotton Denim Jeans: 225
    Kevlar 29 Aramid Fiber, Style 713: 506
    Cordura Nylon, Type 440: 559
    Leather, Lightweight, Nude Finish, 2.25 oz./sq. ft.: 564
    Leather, Fashion Weight, 1.75 oz./sq. ft. 750
    Senior Ballistic Nylon: 817
    Leather, Competition Weight, 3 oz./sq. ft.: 2600

    More to consider...

    "Finally, protection from road abrasion cannot be guaranteed by a
    materials abrasion resistance alone. A jacket may have panels of
    highly abrasion-resistant materials, yet if low-quality stitching joins
    those panels and the seams come apart upon impact or during a slide, then
    the abrasion resistance of the panels could count for nothing.
    Furthermore, an ill-fitting garment may ride up in a slide, contorting
    the body and exposing the skin. And the best jacket in the world, left
    unzipped and/or unsnapped, won't give riders the protection they pay
    for. When it comes to safety, the issues are more complex than just the
    abrasion resistance of materials."