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Jet-Powered School Bus Races Down Santa Pod, Makes a Lot of Heat

What drives a man to buy a buy a jet engine, make it run and fit it inside a school bus? If you ever run into a guy by the name of Gerd Habermann, make sure to ask him for us.
Jet-Powered School Bus Races Down Santa Pod, Makes a Lot of Heat 4 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
Jet-Powered School Bus Races Down Santa Pod, Makes a Lot of HeatJet-Powered School Bus Races Down Santa Pod, Makes a Lot of HeatJet-Powered School Bus Races Down Santa Pod, Makes a Lot of Heat
He's the driver of this crazy contraption that few down the Santa Pod Raceway recently. The Jet School Bus flew over for the for the Flame and Thunder 2018 event. Unfortunately, it wasn't the right time or place for it, as he only managed an 11-second pass, something many modern cars can do without afterburners. Had the conditions been more favorable, the bus is fully capable of 9s passes. But rain and jet buses don't mix very well.

Is by no means the first time we've seen a jet-powered vehicle, but it's still crazy. These engines are costly, so most fanatics have to buy ancient ones and recondition them back to working order.

Fortunately, the American war machine cranks out jets like they are pennies, and there's a big surplus in "graveyards." This engine is a Westinghouse J-34 turbine jet from the late 40s or early 50s. The last time we checked, they didn't make afterburners back then, so it's been heavily modified to deliver 5,000lbs of thrust.

The birds that were powered by this unit include the McDonnell F2H Banshee, a single-seat carrier-based jet fighter, the F3D Skyknight that was also used by the Navy, and the P-2 Neptune, which had propellers.

Jet cars at the drag strip are always a spectacle, and it's why so many people turned up to Santa Pod that weekend. While most cars can slowly edge forwards to the line, jets burst a few inches at a time. They could just use something else to tow them into the starting position, but that wouldn't be as fun to watch.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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