They don't make them like they used to....

Until today I'd never heard of Turbonique. So I did some research.

www.almar.easynet.be/turbonique.htm
iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/04/the_real_acme.html

its a turbine like in the exhaust side of a turbocharger, this is attached to a ring and pinion like a back axle via a reduction gear.

The turbine is fired by the rocket fuel and powers the back axle direct, just like a gasturbine!

Here is a picture of a swiss chap's rocket gas turbine -



The combustor is to th right pointing into the turbine chamber, the gas escapes past the turbine and spins it jolly fast. This rotation is reduced and the torque multiplied by the gearbox below the turbine, and the output can be seen at the bottom of the picture. The reduction gearbox turns 85000rpm into 4500rpm.

heres his kart pulling a wheelie



A couple of films of it going -





Cheers

J