Rather than answering one Bob R. within JetBill's original thread, where ANOTHER Bob R. is asking for a little aid, I started a new thread here.
I did Dyna Jet late 50's-early 70's---at my (then) weight of 276 I was the only one in the club who could handle the roaring beast from the Inner Earth, without getting dragged away. My audiologist wants to know why my hearing is not the best---"some serious ear injuries h-m-m-m-m?" I am sure he wouldn't know a Dyna Jet from his moustache. So I tell I served in the Artillery for 8 years---then he's happy.
The main jet pilot that I pitted for was Hawk Hawkins, who weighed at most 160 pounds in those days, probably closer to 150 (and I also have some hearing loss now, but I blamed it on the combat engines I've been around a great deal more often than the few times I assisted Hawk). I don't remember ever seeing anyone other than shooting enthusiasts and ramp attendants wearing ear protection in those days.
I promised a short tale in the thread title, though. One of the first times that Hawk brought out the jet, he had too large of a metering jet installed, and it was too rich to keep running. It could, and did, let out a huge elephant fart of a noise, though, a great "
FOOM!" once in awhile. The real telling symptom was that some of these misfires were accompanied by a sizable fireball rising up out of the tailpipe.
You have to visualize the scene. There were just two of us, and instead of a compressed air tank, we had a bicycle air pump. Hawk stood over his plane, gripping it by the wings, bent at the waist, with his knees bent, and legs splayed out on either side of the tailpipe. I was on the pump (and battery / coil), to his right. There was a much milder sounding "FOOP!" noise, but a much larger fireball, and it spread out rapidly before dissipating. All the hair on Hawk's calves was singed right off, and he had fairly hairy legs before that happened. Right. I didn't mention that he had on shorts that day.
He had the most surprised look on his face when he looked at me after this. He hadn't been hurt, more like surprised, by something he hadn't anticipated when choosing to wear shorts {unlike now, when I am wearing shorts by preference year round (weather permitting), shorts for men were uncommon then}. All he said at first was something on the lines of "Whoops!"