[Chris Fultz]

another option to incease the speed is to not use pressurized air for the return action - just use a bungee or other light spring.

with out the restriction on the "exhaust" side of the cylinder flowing thru the fitting and solenoid, the actuation is extremely fast.

Note: this only works if you do not have a need to pressure-close the cylinder back to the original position.

Note: depending on which solenoid you use, you may have to make a tubing "loop" to close off the exhast port on the solenid to avoid leakage.