My lovely enabler, Melanie

See Update          (Fuel Packs Available for Sale!)

My experience with a Jetex 50 Hell-Cat motor was somewhat limited. I had one or two, and would strap them to the cheap balsa gliders from Guillows. The problem was with the fuse, as I recall. The way it worked was to insert the fuel pellets into the motor body, then insert a thin wire that was coated with fuse material through the nozzle and coil it to lay against the fuel. Lighting the fuse was no problem, but getting it to keep burning as it passes through the tiny nozzle hole was almost impossible. The paltry amount of fuse wire that was provided with the motor and spare fuel was never enough to get the dang thing to work. After all the fuse was gone but most of the fuel pellets were left, I'd load in full pellets, then crush others to fill the nozzle end so that it was next to the hole. Then, I'd hold a cigarette lighter up to the nozzle until the fuel lit. I'm lucky to have all my fingers.


Once the motor finally lit, there was a cool hiss and a slight stream of smoke that shot out of the nozzle. Amazingly, the glider flew fairly well.





A couple years ago while working on re-acquiring some of my boyhood models and gizmos, I managed to get a Jetex 50 HELL-CAT #EN1, and a Jetex Red Spot 100 JETMASTER motor. Both have their original packaging and have not been run. I'll post a couple pictures soon. In the mean time, take a trip over to the Jetex.org website to see all the good stuff they have there , including some information on the new Rapier motors (these are more like miniature Estes rocket motors).



7/24/2011 Update:

I had the good fortune of being contacted by a famous modeler in Kansas who offered me a rather large stock of Jetex fuel pellets for a very reasonable price. Most are for the Jetex "35" and the Jetex "200" model engines, but there are a few packages for the Jetex "350" and the Jetex "400." As a bonus, there was a Jetex PAA Loader 150 engine, too!

Jetex "35" Fuel Pellet Set $5 per box + shipping (contact)	Jetex "35" Fuel Pellet Instructions
Jetex "35" Fuel Pellet Box Side	Jetex "35" Fuel Pellet Box End
Jetex "200" Fuel Pellet Set $8 per box + shipping (contact)	Jetex "200" Fuel Pellet Box Side Jetex "200" Fuel Pellet Box End
Jetex "350" Fuel Pellet Set $8 per box + shipping (contact)	Jetex "350" Fuel Pellet Box Side Jetex "350" Fuel Pellet Box End
Jetex "600" Fuel Pellet Set $8 per package + shipping (contact)	Jetex "600" Fuel Pellet Instructions
Jetex PAA Loader 150