region increases the pressure temperature and causes a transition to a detonation the detonation region 114 creates supersonic combustion and a shock precedes a flame front greatly increasing the reaction rate raising the temperature of the unburned mixture of fuel and air 40 with the frustoconical configuration a quick deflagration to detonation transition 116 takes place and detonation waves propagate along the combustion portion 96 toward and through the exhaust portion 94 the detonating wave results in combustion of the fuel and air mixture 40 that is two orders of magnitude faster than ordinary combustion such as that of the reciprocating internal combustion engine and the pressure in the exhaust portion 94 behind the detonation wave front is one or two orders of magnitude higher than the initial pressure because of the high pressure in the exhaust portion 94 behind the detonation wave the products are ejected from the exhaust portion 94 in the form of high speed jets which causes the mass member 86 to rotate abut the axis 15 of the shaft 12 a rotational speed of the compact rotary pulse detonation engine 14 can be controlled by the control mechanism 44 with the control mechanism 44 in the fully open position 46 a high rate of speed can be developed however with the control mechanism 44 very near the closed position 48 a slow speed is developed by varying the position between the open position 46 and the.