Spitfire!

[Ronald_55]

I remember making aluminum foil boats with a friend and filling them with lighter fluid. We would stick a wood match in and light it so it would catch the fluid on fire that soaked into the stick. THEN we decided that was lame since it was so hard to get it to light. We proceeded to borrow his dad's gas can and use that instead. When we scurried away there was a skim of burning gas floating down the creek for a long ways. lol

My Dad tells the story of using a pound of black powder in some old car part to make a bomb. Said it made a crater in the pasture field. Knowing Dad's childhood adventures, my Mom was always keeping an eye out to stop me. 

Problem with now is if some 12 year old makes an explosive of any type, they are libel to be shipped off as a terrorist. 

[No_0ne]

1 hour ago, jpx2rk said:

Will you install all of the electronics, etc., or get someone to do that?  Hope you get it done soon, and post some pics.  You know we like pictures.  LOL

Avionics installation is such a long way down the road that I don't have any definitive plans yet.  My first inclination would be to do everything "in-house", but I have a few years to make that decision.  As for getting it done "soon", right now I'm getting close to completing the empennage kit (basically the "tail feathers", i.e. the control surfaces at the rear of the plane as well as the "tailcone", which is the last 8 or 9 feet of the fuselage) after about 9 months of work.  There's a few years left to go ...

[hipower]

23 hours ago, Grayfox54 said:

I built a bunch of models as a kid. Got pretty good at it too. 

I was mostly into hot rods, but the occasional plane, tank or ship got in there as well.   

Firecrackers were cool. But did ya ever sink a ship with a BB gun? 

No...but I liked to shoot shaving cream cans with a 22! 

That does sound fun though.

[hipower]

21 hours ago, No_0ne said:

Some of us still like building airplanes ...

 

Did I buy a ragtop Corvette from you way back in 1972?

Nah. Couldn't be. Your work looks better than the one I saw. Or the remains anyway. lol

To explain, this gentleman built a stunt plane in his basement. Took it out to Smyrna Field, took off and reached an altitude of 1500 feet. Or so he told me.

Then a wing support snapped. He spiraled in and messed up a hip and left leg pretty bad. Couldn't drive the Vette anymore. A 427 with manual tranny. A beast!

Damn I miss that car!

[hipower]

7 hours ago, tacops said:

What's sad is everybody is talking past tense about blowing s-it up with firecrackers.  Guys, you ain't too old to have fun.

I think we all use pistols and rifles these days...and a little Tannerite.

[hipower]

4 hours ago, No_0ne said:

Avionics installation is such a long way down the road that I don't have any definitive plans yet.  My first inclination would be to do everything "in-house", but I have a few years to make that decision.  As for getting it done "soon", right now I'm getting close to completing the empennage kit (basically the "tail feathers", i.e. the control surfaces at the rear of the plane as well as the "tailcone", which is the last 8 or 9 feet of the fuselage) after about 9 months of work.  There's a few years left to go ...

I bow in your general direction sir. lol No really I do admire the skill and determination it takes to start and finish such a project.

[Dirtshooter]

6 hours ago, Ronald_55 said:

Problem with now is if some 12 year old makes an explosive of any type, they are libel to be shipped off as a terrorist.

Yep the kids of today have had too many freedoms taken away. They have helmets to ride a bike, seat belts to ride in a car, can't ride in the back of a pickup in most states, can't buy a pistol until he/she is 21 but join the Armed forces and we will furnish them a fully auto M-16, hand grenades, .50 cal, tanks you name it, but they can't legally buy a beer, a cigarette or a pistol, that is pretty screwed up if you ask me. I guess this makes me an old fart for sure!!

[No_0ne]

3 hours ago, hipower said:

Did I buy a ragtop Corvette from you way back in 1972?

Nah. Couldn't be. Your work looks better than the one I saw. Or the remains anyway. lol

To explain, this gentleman built a stunt plane in his basement. Took it out to Smyrna Field, took off and reached an altitude of 1500 feet. Or so he told me.

Then a wing support snapped. He spiraled in and messed up a hip and left leg pretty bad. Couldn't drive the Vette anymore. A 427 with manual tranny. A beast!

Damn I miss that car!

 

Nope.  In 1972 I was out in the yard, blowing stuff up with firecrackers and such ...

 

 

3 hours ago, hipower said:

I bow in your general direction sir. lol No really I do admire the skill and determination it takes to start and finish such a project.

Thanks, but it remains to be seen how much determination I have.  As for skill, I'm afraid not very much ...

[Quavodus]

I use to buy M-80's when I was about 12 years old. The ones that would turn a steel soup can inside out. I never put one in a mail box but, have seen what it will do.

[seez52]

I loved blowing stuff up as a kid and would mainly tear open firecrackers to get the powder. I was an NRA member way back then and received a mailer from their book club, or some such. One of the books was The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives. I ordered it and never had to tear open another firecracker! The secret ingredient was aluminum dust. I found an old arts supply store and they sold it it one pound cans. It was kind of expensive but it was the trick. After that we graduated up to schedule 80 pvc and made some real noise.

[hipower]

3 hours ago, seez52 said:

I loved blowing stuff up as a kid and would mainly tear open firecrackers to get the powder. I was an NRA member way back then and received a mailer from their book club, or some such. One of the books was The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives. I ordered it and never had to tear open another firecracker! The secret ingredient was aluminum dust. I found an old arts supply store and they sold it it one pound cans. It was kind of expensive but it was the trick. After that we graduated up to schedule 80 pvc and made some real noise.

Ever try to use your mix as a propellent in that pvc? Just wondering if it would work.

[seez52]

1 hour ago, hipower said:

Ever try to use your mix as a propellent in that pvc? Just wondering if it would work.

Never did. It was more of a flash powder and never did think of it. We were more interested in making noise. Did make some smoke bombs. At some point we came across a huge surplus smoke can. Seems like it was gallon paint can size. Man it smoked forever. 

[hipower]

6 minutes ago, seez52 said:

Never did. It was more of a flash powder and never did think of it. We were more interested in making noise. Did make some smoke bombs. At some point we came across a huge surplus smoke can. Seems like it was gallon paint can size. Man it smoked forever. 

Guess it just shows how destructive my mind was/is.  I thought that would make a great hand cannon with the pvc and maybe a ping pong ball as the projectile. Does this make you want to try it now? lol

[seez52]

9 hours ago, hipower said:

Guess it just shows how destructive my mind was/is.  I thought that would make a great hand cannon with the pvc and maybe a ping pong ball as the projectile. Does this make you want to try it now? lol

It kinda does. I did make some really nice potato guns later in life! 

Way back I bought a brass cannon from Dixie Gunworks. It's about 9 inches long with a .65 bore or there a bouts. I drilled it to take a fuse and have had it for years, decades of fun with it. Makes a huge noise. Actually fired some projectiles out of it a few times. 

They used to sell bird bombs and a little hand held pistol for shooting them. They were cardboard and you would put a. 22 blank in the gun to launch it. They would travel about 50 ft up and explode with about the same report as an M-80. I figured out I could take masking tape, wrap it around the bird bombs so they fit snugly in the cannon bore. It would launch one about 200 yards before exploding. First time I tried this I had it generally pointed in the direction of my neighbors house on the hill. Damn near hit the house before it exploded. 

Thinking back on all the stuff we got into back then, done today kids would be put under the jail house. 

Edited August 13, 2020 by seez52

[E4 No More]

On 8/12/2020 at 4:59 PM, seez52 said:

I loved blowing stuff up as a kid and would mainly tear open firecrackers to get the powder. I was an NRA member way back then and received a mailer from their book club, or some such. One of the books was The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives. I ordered it and never had to tear open another firecracker! The secret ingredient was aluminum dust. I found an old arts supply store and they sold it it one pound cans. It was kind of expensive but it was the trick. After that we graduated up to schedule 80 pvc and made some real noise.

I could never find Cherry Bombs or M-80's as I was growing up. I use to spend hours cutting open countless Black Cats with an X-acto knife in order to fill empty Tester paint bottles, used smoke bombs, and even the bottom a plastic Easter Egg with powder. In retrospect, I am damned glad that I was smart enough to bury the Tester bottles deep enough that I was never hit by the glass shrapnel. I stuffed the upper half of the egg with fuses to fill the void. After putting in a waterproof fuse, I then wrapped it up with several layers of Duct Tape, and took it down to the private lake where the community had a large 4th celebration going on. After I lit it and threw it into the cove it made a huge explosion amplified by the hillside on the other side of the cove. It scared the crap out of everyone at the gathering!  

Even though they couldn't pin anything on me, I had a reputation with the police after that! 

Edited August 18, 2020 by E4 No More

[seez52]

Did anyone ever have a carbide can? We made more noise cheaply with one of those. Use an old quart paint can that the lid would fit on. Punch a small hole in the bottom with a nail then add about a dozen or two carbide rocks. The procedure was to spit on the carbide, slap the lid on quickly and hold your finger over the hole, sit the can on it's side on the ground and hold it there with your foot then put a lit match to the hole. The acetylene created mixed with air made a right good explosion shooting the lid 20 or 30 ft. The best thing was you could do it all over again with the only cost being a new match! Pretty soon you're mouth was so dry you had to swap gunners. Strike anywhere matches were preferred. Probably why I don't hear well today. 

Edited August 13, 2020 by seez52

[OLDNEWBIE]

On 8/10/2020 at 11:15 PM, Grayfox54 said:

I built a bunch of models as a kid. Got pretty good at it too. 

I was mostly into hot rods, but the occasional plane, tank or ship got in there as well.   

Firecrackers were cool. But did ya ever sink a ship with a BB gun? 

Dammmit! Now I feel sad I missed out on something as a Kid Sinking models with a BB gun. Never too late I guess

 

[E4 No More]

9 minutes ago, OLDNEWBIE said:

Dammmit! Now I feel sad I missed out on something as a Kid Sinking models with a BB gun. Never too late I guess

 

There use to be a genre of model builders who would build model ships with wooden sides and mount BB guns as if they were the ship's battery. Then they'd float them in a pond and have battles with each side trying to sink the other.

[OLDNEWBIE]

3 minutes ago, E4 No More said:

There use to be a genre of model builders who would build model ships with wooden sides and mount BB guns as if they were the ship's battery. Then they'd float them in a pond and have battles with each side trying to sink the other.

Your Killing me! I'm missing out on all the fun stuff in life. 

 

[Dirtshooter]

On 8/13/2020 at 1:59 PM, E4 No More said:

I could never find Cherry Bombs or M-80's as I was growing up

We used to take cherry bombs and a slingshot and the shooter would load up and pull back, while the other boy the igniter would light the fuse. The tricky part was some fuses are quicker than others, if you timed it just right you could launch the bomb way up in the air and shortly thereafter the sonic boom would rattle all the windows. Probably about as loud as shooting tannerite is today. It is a small miracle that more kids didn't blow off their fingers, hands or put out their eyes back in the day. Kids had to be smarter back then to survive!!LOL

[E4 No More]

1 hour ago, Dirtshooter said:

We used to take cherry bombs and a slingshot and the shooter would load up and pull back, while the other boy the igniter would light the fuse. The tricky part was some fuses are quicker than others, if you timed it just right you could launch the bomb way up in the air and shortly thereafter the sonic boom would rattle all the windows. Probably about as loud as shooting tannerite is today. It is a small miracle that more kids didn't blow off their fingers, hands or put out their eyes back in the day. Kids had to be smarter back then to survive!!LOL

I've been told that some folks have taken oxygen/acetylene mixtures and filled balloons with it. Then they tie a long fuse to it, light the fuse, and release the balloon into the air. I hear it makes a really big BOOM! 

[E4 No More]

1 hour ago, OLDNEWBIE said:

Your Killing me! I'm missing out on all the fun stuff in life. 

 

They still exist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_warship_combat 

[Garufa]

1 hour ago, Dirtshooter said:

It is a small miracle that more kids didn't blow off their fingers, hands or put out their eyes back in the day. Kids had to be smarter back then to survive!!LOL

My Dad and every other dad in the neighborhood supposedly knew someone growing up who blew a hand off.  There sure must have been a lot of one handed kids running around in the 50’s.  

Edited August 24, 2020 by Garufa

[E4 No More]

8 minutes ago, Garufa said:

My Dad and every other dad in the neighborhood supposedly knew someone growing up who blew a hand off.  There sure must have been a lot of one handed kids running around in the 50’s.  

When I grew up, the news reported spontaneous amputations of fingers and hands from "fireworks." I assumed they were illegal fireworks because I've had ten Black Cats go off in my hand at once and didn't lose a digit.

Edited August 24, 2020 by E4 No More

[Dirtshooter]

2 hours ago, E4 No More said:

I've had ten Black Cats go off in my hand at once and didn't lose a digit.

Scared you pretty good though didn't it???