Back in 2006, Oscar Diös heard there was a dead Boeing 747-200 built in 1976 on one of the runways at Arlanda Airport, the largest international airport in Sweden, north of Stockholm. It was once owned by a Swedish company called Transjet, who used it to fly muslim pilgrims to Mecca, as well as doing charter flights around the world until it was grounded for "organisational problems" in 2002. The noble Jumbo was in a bad state, but Oscar saw the possibilities right away. Probably after way too many glasses of akvavit that day, Diös thought he had the perfect idea: to buy the 747 and convert it into a low-cost hotel.

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Once upon a time I wanted to be a fighter pilot, which is probably why I write so much about the biggest and baddest machines ever. My feeling then and now is that there's nothing that can match the thrill of flying one of the fastest, most expensive gadgets in the world almost at ground level through a desert canyon. Exactly like this french Mirage pilot does in this awesome video, which has Johnny Cash singing I've Been Everywhere as a extra.

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The USAF keeps pushing forward the race towards cleaner skies--and leaner warmachine and potential global mayhem costs--moving from pure oil-derived fuel to a mixture between oil and synthetic fuel. The new benchmark is not a B1 bomber, which they already put through its paces using a similar mix, but a fighter jet: They broke the Mach 2 barrier using the new fuel mix in an F-15, which according to the Air Force is a crucial step:

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Flames, thunderous noise, drama and the threat of explosive, combustive doom: That's why this sculpture by Dave Umlas will please your inner fire-starter. Made from stainless steel, propane gas-air jets and what seems to be a turbine-like system somewhere in its construction, it exists merely to thrill you with flames. If the still photos of the sculpture aren't enough for you, check out the video. It's freakin' firey.

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Even while I knew what was going to happen when I saw this video, it shocked me when I saw it exploding the way it did, with no warning whatsoever. To be honest, I don't know if this Saudi fighter jet is a real fighter jet or not. It sounds like one, it looks like one, and it explodes like one, so it must be an aeroplane or a duck. But somehow, some people think it may be an RC model. Still, the idea of the plane just exploding like that reminds you how fragile our technological world is--says the guy taking a plane on Monday. What do you people think? Real or model?

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Forget the improbable promises of the Falx tiltrotor: Bell aircraft has rolled out its 609 civilian tiltrotor for real. Looking and flying like a smaller cousin of the military V22 Osprey, also a Bell vehicle, the 609 will undoubtedly please millionaire business people since it can perform all the rooftop-landing duties of a normal helicopter, but flies twice as fast and can fly 9 passengers up to 25,000 feet altitude. Plus, it'd be undeniably cooler to turn up at your meetings in something that looks like it belongs in a sci-fi flick versus something that reminds people of Magnum, PI.

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If you want to have your own F-35 Lightning II fighter jet, look no further because Stephen Trimble--from the always-good The Dew Line--has sent us high resolution instructions showing Lockheed Martin's construction process. Piece by piece, the instructions look straight from the Pentagon's Lego set. Grab yours after the jump, along with the shopping list with all the materials you need and actual images of some of the steps.

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Do you remember the US$1.2 billion B-2 Stealth Bomber that crashed during take-off? Well now a video has been released of the event. But let me warn you—it's really, really hard watching so much taxpayer cash wastefully go up in flames, especially when the travesty unfolds so slowly. Apparently the plane's sensors were fooled by the presence of water and convinced the vehicle to pitch up on take-off. Luckily both pilots ejected safely. [via Wired]

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What do you do if you've got a surplus US Air Force helicopter turboshaft engine, and a jet boat hull? Stupid question: you do one hell of a modding job and bolt them together of course, like these nutcase guys have done. Their 23-foot aluminium white-water jet boat, dubbed Squirt 2, is powered by a 1,370 hp engine that generates about 166kg-m of torque. And there's nothing much more to say, other than "bravo." or possibly "boom!" [Hacked Gadgets]

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Robert Maddox is a builder and seller of real pulse jet engines with powers up to 1000 pounds... and if that's not a cool enough hobby, he's also bolted one to a bicycle. The 50-ish pounds of thrust developed by the engine could push the bike up to 120 KPH, which would be a real bone-shaker of a ride. And a deafening one too: the pulse jet engine makes a frightening racket, and its humming sound earned the Second World War cruise-missile V1s that used similar engines the nicknames buzzbomb and doodlebug. You can hear and see the results of this DIY craziness in the video.

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