This 'afterburner' has been subject of quite a bit of discussion over on RC Groups... The consensus is that it's a very 'cool' visual effect but there is little, if any, performance benefit. Even the manufacturers claimed figures show a maximum thrust boost of only 10% (could be even less depending on fan choice). This thrust increase is largely offset by the weight added by the afterburner components. The 'burn' duration is not stated on the site but I'm estimating at about 6 seconds. So for the other 95% of the flight there is a slight thrust loss due to the restriction caused by the burner... plus the extra weight.
 
It does have a certain WOW! factor though.

Very interesting .... but stupid.  This arrangement looks very similar to the kinds of things which were tried in the late forties and early fifties when modellers with engineering experience were trying to make model turbojets.  
A blow torch arrangement with an electric fan was an early experiment .  These and other fanciful contraptions, some lethal, are discussed in the (Jet) X Files, Sept 2004.
 
I don't think anyone, except the legendary Benson-Ball claimed any gave a decent thrust, if any.  Then there was the MEW 601 ... ???
 
The Swedish version looks useful if you wanted to make creme brule.
 
There are some interesting and commercially available miniature rockets about using N2O as oxidiser which give a flame and some nice smoke.
 
What goes around comes around ...
 
RR
 

Hi guys . . .  
 
I agree. But you have to admit that it looks like fun.  
 
The web site itself was the most troubling aspect  
of the whole thing for me. On two different computers  
(running two different operating systems) and with three  
different web browsers, I had only fleeting success  
being able to consistently connect to their site. It was  
only with a certain amount of trepidation and tenacity  
that I was able to get the above photos to properly download  
onto my computer. I've never had so much trouble with  
a web site in all my life.  
 
Back to the device . . .  
 
The comparison to the MEW 601 is a good one.  
Although that late 1940's gadget was famous for  
producing absolutely no thrust at all, this  
one is at least alleged (by the manufacturere, no  
less) to add just enough thrust to a ducted fan to  
compensate for it's own weight . . . much like an  
augmenter tube installation for a Jetex, I suppose.  
 
On the various R/C discussion groups, where this  
product has already made the rounds, the sceptics  
take no liberties in taking it to task. Many wonder  
about the fire danger (issues that us genuine rocket  
plane flyers have to think about constantly but most  
ARF foam 'n electric prop "park flyer" enthusiasts  
never typically need to contemplate). In deference  
to the Microafterburner (which Steve correctly  
classifies as a thermojet), I guess one could say that  
it adds a little danger and excitement to that most  
boring and uninspiring of "jet model" powerplants,  
the electric ducted fan.  
 
Nitrose oxide (N2O) hybrid rocket motors . . . that's an  
interesting subject in it's own right. These DO actually  
work (Burt Rutan's Space Ship One used a big version  
for a power plant) and they enjoy a following in the  
"high power" model rocketry community. There are even  
"microhybrids" that aren't much larger than a 24mm  
diameter "D" impulse Estes. They uses disposible "soda  
jet" cartridges (looking just like their little CO2 counterparts).  
Producing less thrust and for a longer duration than their  
solid fuel counterparts (hmmm . . . ), they require a bit of  
careful setting up on the launch pad to make them work  
reliably.  
 
The one main thing that prevents microhybrids from being  
explored in rocket plane circles (and this is something that  
I've certainly given thought to) is that they rely on gravity to  
have the gas flow into the combustion chamber, so it is  
limited to vertical launching applications only.  
 
Ben in Tucson  
 

Yes, N02 hybrid motors 'should' in theory be good for out use... One of the members of this forum, Dave Fawcett, is currently working on such a motor: http://www.jetex.org/scripts/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=mjpmotors;action=display;num=11 69939253;start=7#7. It does however require a great deal of expertise to come up with a reliable, practical and light weight long burn duration hybrid motor.
I agree with you that orientation of the motor is not a big issue. The N02 is gas stored at very high pressure so gravity plays virtually no part in the fuel feed process.
 
Steve