Posted By:
Lord Lucan
in somewhere strange Mar 25, 2005
According to this site an engine, much like a steam engine, was used in the 19th century. However, instead of boiling water it boiled PETROL. Quite clearly, there are advantages in using a liquid fuel instead of coal – it's easier and quicker to refuel and there's no ash produced. But hot petrol vapour under pressure sounds just too scary. I can only speculate that there's some thermodynamic advantage in the idea.
Reminds me of a lawn mower or weed eater engine; just bigger. Instead of a spark (spark plug) it is an ongoing burner. If that fire went out, and they would try to light it. BAM!!!!!!!! But they said it never happened.
Yeah, these guys sound like THEY wrote the hoax ad for the pony express... "Willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred."
A person would have to be absolutely insane to think that this would work as anything but a large, unstable explosive device.
But then again, there are such historic inventors as the guy who rode his winged bike off a cliff believing it would fly, so I guess you never know. Too bad they hadn't applied for a patent for it.
