LARRY  COTTRILL'S  NUMBER  ONE  ABSOLUTE  BEST  SUCCESS  TIP  FOR  BEGINNERS!  All right, here it is. Read this until you have it memorized: DON'T BUILD A DESIGN OF YOUR OWN FOR YOUR FIRST PULSEJET - INSTEAD, BUILD ONE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN PROVEN TO WORK, AND BUILD IT EXACTLY AS SHOWN IN THE PUBLISHED PLANS ! There -- I've said it. Now, you might be skeptical enough to think that I might be saying this out of some ulterior motive: - I don't like beginners trying to be "too creative" right out of the gate - I arrogantly believe that beginners just don't have any really good ideas - I'd like to sell you all kinds of neat junk to promote my own business But actually, nothing could be further from the truth. I think I have some very good reasons why building a first engine from a proven standard plan is so important: We have seen several cases where someone has a "great new pulsejet idea" that they want to do for a science fair entry, class project or whatever, only to run into problems during or after building what might have ended up being a nice engine. These people usually get so frustrated or disappointed that they never come back to try again, basically because they have set up too high a hurdle for their first effort. They end up missing out on the enjoyment of one of the most exciting scientific hobbies that's ever been offered to the public -- mostly because their goals were too high for the limited time and resources they have. There is a lot of help available to you from a lot of knowledgeable people on the pulse-jets.com forums. In the world of homebuilt pulsejets, that is THE place to go for help in getting your jet up and running. HOWEVER, even there, everybody's time is limited. It will be really difficult to get anyone to help you work with an unproven design as your first effort, if you have no experience at all in learning how these engines are designed, built and run. It is VERY likely that you will need help of some kind with your first effort. Sticking with a standard plan means that your problems will not be new and unique, so someone will be able to quickly give the help you need. It will be VERY hard for you to be taken seriously if you haven't shown that you're willing to "pay your dues" by working through the fundamentals with a proven design - essentially your pulsejet "basic training". If you think you're ready to build your first valveless pulsejet, do yourself a BIG favor, and start out by building a known successful design! Visit the forums here:   www.pulse-jets.com/phpbb3 Go back to select another topic     Larry Cottrill Director of Product Development Cottrill Cyclodyne Corporation Questions? Comments? email larrycottrill@cottrillcyclodyne.com