[danieldyer]

> Sounds shockingly good, so I have to wonder if the compressor is basically an ablative heat shield and this is good for only a few runs.

The compressor isn't the part of the engine which gets really hot here; that would be the turbine. In these kinds of engines the turbine is typically made out of Inconel, which has no problems handling the ~800C exhaust gas temperature seen at maximum thrust. Preventing the EGT from exceeding a specified limit is the main job of the engine computer, so this is not a common failure mode.

The service interval on Jetcat turbines is 25 hours (some manufacturers specify 50-hour intervals, or even longer), for which the significant portion the work involved is a bearing replacement.

While the thrust-to-weight ratio does seem very good, keep in mind that the quoted weight of 3.1 lbs is likely to not include ancillaries (engine computer, battery and mounting hardware). Also, lubrication is provided by oil mixed in with the fuel rather than a closed-loop oiling system.

A thrust-to-weight ratio of 10:1 is impressive, but not out of line with what you'd expect to see from a full-sized turbojet. On the other hand, the thrust-specific fuel consumption for these engines is much worse than a full-sized engine due to the much lower pressure ratio.