Video: American hero builds 367-mph jet school bus to keep kids off drugs

Paul Stender’s jet-powered “School Time” school bus is a vehicle with a mission. Make that two missions. “The first is to entertain people because, come on, it’s a jet bus,” Stender explains. “The second is to inspire kids to keep away from drugs.” Because nothing says “safe hobby” like blasting down a runway at 367 MPH in a school bus that shoots 80-foot flames.

School Time gets its horsepower—42,000, to be exact—from a GE J-79 jet engine originally built for an F-4 Phantom fighter jet. The custom-built bus shares practically nothing with the yellow kiddie-movers parked outside your local school, with nearly every component custom-built by Stender. And with that giant engine nestled in the back, there’s only room for three passengers.
Of course, it’s stupid fast. Watch it start from a standstill and blow the wings off a stunt airplane that’s had a flying start:

This isn’t the only jet-powered freak machine in Stender’s garage. He’s built nearly 30 fire-breathing creations, including a 350-MPH Humvee, a 400-MPH Ram pickup truck, a beer truck, and a semi, all jet powered.

And then there’s the jet-powered port-o-john. Powered by a Boeing turbine engine from a Navy minesweeper, the 1000 horsepower commode sits atop a go kart chassis. The urinal doubles as the fuel filler for the jet engine, which Paul straddles while driving from the, uh, captain’s seat. It’ll do 70 MPH at full flush, and Paul does his business with the door closed, of course.

“We do a lot of displays at schools and we are trying to show kids there’s more to life than sitting in front of computers,” Stender says on his website. “It’s important for them to have active hobbies and creative interests to keep busy and keep away from bad influences and drugs. That’s why we wrote our motto on the side of the bus, ‘jets are hot, drugs are not’.”

Source: roadandtrack.com