Oregon man mounted a jet engine on a 60-year-old fishing boat to blast around a lake and thinks he may have set a world record
Published on Apr 18, 2026 at 8:49 AM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Apr 18, 2026 at 8:49 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
A man from Oregon has unveiled something truly crazy after he added a jet engine to the back of a 60-year-old fishing boat – and he suspects he might have broken a world record.
YouTuber Robert Maddox from CrazyRocketman mounted a pulsejet engine and its 230lbs of thrust to the back of a 1965 12-foot Sears fishing boat.
A wild juxtaposition by any standard, and the video he posted on YouTube confirms that as the diminutive boat roars away.
But did the YouTuber actually actually get the record?
How does this 1965 Sears fishing boat get its power?
The video shows the Oregon man hurling the boat around a lake, with the engine glowing behind him.
Strapped to the back of the boat is a pulsejet engine that produces 230lbs of thrust.
Pulsejet engines are smaller, lighter jet engines with combustion occurring in pulses.
Such is their simplicity that they can be made with few or even no moving parts at all.
Engines like these were used on the German V-1 Flying Bomb from World War II.
These were the Argus As 014 engines, the very first pulsejet ever to be mass-produced.
It is a smaller and even simpler version of these that Maddox has put on the back of his boat.
The funny noise they make comes from the way in which the jet makes its power.
This old boat could be a record holder
In his video, Maddox had clearly enjoyed his outing on the boat.
“Man, this boat really is super controllable,” he said, highlighting the ease with which it handles.
The video suggested there are a few niggles still to sort out on the boat.
“It was making all kinds of fuel noises, I’ve probably got a fuel pump out or something,” he added.
Yet this isn’t the end of the road for this particular project.
“I’m going to do a lot with this boat, and put a twin engine on it,” Maddox said in the video.
Given the speed of the vessel, with two pulsejet engines, this should rocket through the water.
That means another world record could be up for grabs for the Oregon YouTuber.
If there was any doubt over a world record with one engine, two engines should end the debate in an instant.
Jet engine timeline
150 AD – Hero of Alexandria invents the aeolipile, a steam-powered device demonstrating the basic jet principle
1930 – Frank Whittle successfully patents the first design for a working gas turbine jet engine
1937 – Hans von Ohain tests his first centrifugal turbojet engine prototype in Germany
1939 – The Heinkel He 178 makes the first successful flight powered entirely by a jet engine
1941 – The Gloster E.28/39 completes the first British jet flight using Whittle’s engine design
1944 – The Messerschmitt Me 262 enters combat service as the world’s first operational jet fighter
1949 – The de Havilland Comet makes its maiden flight to become the first commercial jet airliner
1958 – The Boeing 707 enters commercial service and officially kicks off the global Jet Age
1969 – Concorde takes off for the first time to pioneer supersonic passenger jet travel
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Henry joined the Supercar Blondie team in February 2025, and since then has covered a wide array of topics ranging from EVs, American barn finds, and the odd Cold War jet. He’s combined his passion for cars with his keen interest in motorsport and his side hustle as a volunteer steam locomotive fireman at a heritage steam railway.
