Originally published at: Rocketman rides the wild flame-spitting Rocket Board down a stretch of highway | Boing Boing
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reflects poorly upon me that my main thought was: “so how does he get back to his truck?” …also shallowly envious of his hair. (extra nerd credit: if the road lines are painted to standard i’d super roughly estimate 30mph (48kph))
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The built-in butt warmer is a nice feature.
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Yes, it is awesome and looks cool. However, he is a fool for not wearing a helmet and other protective gear while riding his rocket board.
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Rocket, eh.
Looks and sounds a lot like a pulsejet to me.
I ges it’s just a name, the way the locomotive “Rocket” wasn’t actually a rocket.
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No protective gear and holding a selfie-stick the entire time!
I remember those tiny, treacherous wheels from my skating/skateboarding days. All it takes is one tiny rocklet to stop a wheel and send a person on a trajectory to kiss the pavement…
I’d be in fully armored if I took that ride.
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I was thinking more like 20mph.
I think the road lines go by faster when I’m on my bicycle.
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Noice!
But I still prefer Norrin Radd.
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He delivers them all in one night? 
Hold my beard.
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It is amazing how mechanically simple that engine is, and how quickly it gets red hot.
I imagined this playing in the background.
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My wife worked in healthcare for many years. All too frequently she had to deal with the after-effects of “wild and crazy” guys (99% guys, few women) who smeared themselves over the pavement without benefit of helmet or protective clothing. Wrecked bodies, wrecked brains…I’ve heard people say, “Well, it was his body, he didn’t wreck anyone’s life but his own.” In fact, he also wrecked the lives of the loved ones who’d have to care for him the rest of his days. Not to mention soaking up limited public resources intended to help those who became disabled through no fault of their own.
Living on the edge, adrenaline rush, thrill of cheating death, I get all that. But personally when I see a performance like this all I can think of is, “Fucking idiot.”
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Santa got a brand new sled.
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That was my second thought, after “no helmet?!”, followed by “he has to hold the selfie stick while doing this?” and then finally “what, no brakes?” (Somewhere in there was also, “Jesus, that looks dangerously hot.”) So don’t know what that says about me…
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I mean, looking at his age, he’s probably like, “Meh, I’ve had a good run.”
So - can someone familiar with his rockets, and I have seen some other short videos of him, are these the same type of rockets used in the V1 “buzz bombs” during WWII?
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Also looks like he was lucky to not have melted his shoes to the board.
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Indeed it is a pulse jet. For anyone who isn’t familiar with these, what’s cool about them is how simple they are. They are literally some lengths of pipe welded together in a clever shape that can create compression and continuous combustion from a pressurized gas like propane. It’s a form of passive jet engine with no moving parts. Super easy to make, moderately powerful, and they don’t get very hot (by jet standards) which means you can make them from civilian-grade materials. The main issue is that they are loud as hell in person.
People are talking about helmets, but ear protection is what he really needs, standing that close to a pulse jet.
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He gon’ die.
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They will sing his praises in Valhalla when he rides in astride his fire shield!
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Fickt nicht mit dem Raketemensch!
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Maybe that voluminous crown of hair abates the noise a bit. 
(In high school, I had hair that long. Wrote one classmate in my yearbook: How you can get through life hearing only muffled sounds, I’ll never know.)
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