Snork

[Allen_Wrench]

awesome memories guys, never tried the spraycan rockets though, sounds cool. I used to spend my allowance on rolls of that pop-cap tape for one of those rockets(and other guns) when I was like 5... good times getting yelled at by mom for using my thumbnail to pop them and burning it(my nail) up, heh heh.

Nowadays kids have airbags to play with:
YouTube - Idiotic Airbag Prank

Don't worry, he was drunk and didn't feel it 'till the next day

Kids today are missing out (probably for the best). We even knew about how you could take Drano (the old formula) and shove aluminum foil into the jug as a catayst to release the hydrogen. We'd put balloons over the top to fill 'em. If you had help and worked fast, you could get about five hydrogen balloons from a single jug. You do this at night and tie a length of fuse to the bottom. Light it and let it go up, up, up, up. Then WOOOOMPFFF, 10 foot fireball. Down in Mansfield, neighbors were calling in UFO sightings.

PS: anybody who reads this and wants to try it, for Heavens Sake!!! DON"T SMOKE and play with hydrogen. No aroma therapy candles, no open flames at all until all the hydrogen is in the balloons and all tied up. There, you can't say you weren't warned.

 

[killercanuck]

Haha, yea, that's what the Hindenburg was filled with.. it was also covered in Thermite, that didn't help either, lols

 

[Dan]

LOL, know what kinda kids you guys were. Didn't we meet in Juvie?

More sedate, but always wanted to make lil hot-air balloons and have the gondolas be wire rings to hold the small Sterno cans. Put em on tethers as lawn and patio lights.

 

[Goat Herder]

Some kids these day's really need to be supervised lol. I was no Angel either my father knew how to ask trick questions like a drill Sargent when I got his attention and seamed to happen a lot growing up. The really hard part would be trying not to be caught in a lie and really really not wanting to be caught lol.

 

[2door]

Haha, yea, that's what the Hindenburg was filled with.. it was also covered in Thermite, that didn't help either, lols

Well, heck, if the Hindenburg had 'termites', then that was the problem...why hasn't anyone else thought of this?
Tom

 

[fasteddy]

Tomato juice can with one end cut out, a can of your buddies, sisters, hair spray and a 4 inch fire cracker with one side of the fuse pulled out to give a longer escape time.

When pushed into the ground and lit, spectacular. Even more so at night as mentioned.
Done in the back yard of the local police station at 1 am? Not too freaking smart unless you could run faster than me and 4 cops.

Steve.

 

[Dan]

Har! lol. Don't have to out run the bear. Gotta be able to out run just one of your buddies.

wut?

The Hindenburg thing, I blame global warming.

 

[fasteddy]

Dan, the rest of my "friends" hid out to watch the action. Just as she went off, 4 cops came out the back door of the station.

I was a good cross country runner in those days but I did the 880 in a time that no one in my school could even have come close to. As they say, fear adds wings to your feet.

Like I say, I love polking an angry bear on the a** with a short stick but I had to quit when I noticed they could run quicker than me.
Thank God this wasn't one of them.

Steve.

 

[Allen_Wrench]

Haha, yea, that's what the Hindenburg was filled with.. it was also covered in Thermite, that didn't help either, lols

Yeah, I saw that episode of Mythbusters too. Originally, the Hindenburg was designed to be filled with non-inflammable helium, but at that time the U.S. had cornered the market on the stuff and wasn't in the mood to sell.

So, with a monumental lack of good judgement, bazillions of cubic feet of hydrogen were put into a craft covered with the chemical equivalent of Thermite. And, one thing goes wrong, you get a torch.

 

[happycheapskate]

There are balloons you can readily buy that look like chinese paper lanterns, and use "canned fuel" or solid fuel on little metal trays to heat them. They look like Hot Air Balloons that humans would ride in.

They are cheap, from home-made to $50 for decorated pre-made ones that are specially made to help avoid causing house fires if the wind blows the balloon off course, and to keep them from self-igniting midair.
Some have been made using tea-candles.

Sky lantern - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...eng_sky_lantern_festival_San_Sai_Thailand.jpg

LOL, know what kinda kids you guys were. Didn't we meet in Juvie?

I think R/C air blimps would be more fun.

More sedate, but always wanted to make lil hot-air balloons and have the gondolas be wire rings to hold the small Sterno cans. Put em on tethers as lawn and patio lights.

 

[Dan]

Very cool Happy. Thank you. Was just thinking be cool to do one blimp shaped. LOL, b4 MBs, I would be off running to buy a sewing machine and materials to try and make one.

Hehe, BBL. I am off to look at a sewing machine and non flammable fabrics.

Wut? is 23F with black ice today. Have to wait to go for a ride. Snork

Just had another thought which is always a good thing when planning on floating burning materials skyward. A double hull sort of thing. Clear outer so UV light can enter but can't escape trapping lil extra heat,,, hmmm

 

[Dan]

On winter ridding and cold weather;

I figure it's better to be an out-patient than to be an inpatient ha ha.

 

[Dan]

There are so many variables it's mind boggling, so I'm just giving it my best shot using a lot of estimates and guess work and about a half ounce of common sense.



Which is a lot more than what I usually go on.

==================================

 

[Dan]

Continuing with our winter theme;

all the cool kids are wearing trash bags on there feet these days..
boots are for wimps

 

[2door]

Dan,
We used to make 'blimps'. Get a dry cleaner's plastic bag. Build a cross brace system inside to hold the shape, we used balsa wood, and birthday candles. The hard part is getting all the candles lit before the first ones burned down. What you'll have is a hot air dirigible, blimp. Better to tether it so you're not launching an incendiary device, which the law might frown on. Oh, they glow in the dark too.
Another alternative is to check out R/C (radio control) blimps. They've been using them at sporting events and concerts for several years. They have electric motors and are controlled from a transmitter.
Tom

 

[happycheapskate]

Why use trash bags? We have colored duct tape now!

Continuing with our winter theme;

 

[timboellner]

How bout the cap guns with the perforated rolls of red caps with little dots of gunpowder?

We would take a hammer and blow the whole roll at a time with one good smack.

They sure were simpler times

 

[killercanuck]

Better to tether it so you're not launching an incendiary device, which the law might frown on. Oh, they glow in the dark too.

Haha! Good lesson for the kids!

 

[Allen_Wrench]

Haha, yea, that's what the Hindenburg was filled with.. it was also covered in Thermite, that didn't help either, lols

It gets better. You're gonna laugh: did you know the Hindenburg had a Smoking Lounge? Seriously. Google it.

If I were walking down the promenade of a giant craft filled with tons of hydrogen (assuming I'd board one to begin with) and came to a door, and opened it, and saw about twenty or thirty people either smoking or lighting up, I would run and grab the nearest parachute and jump. I'll figure out how to work it on the way down.

 

[BarelyAWake]

Odd as it may seem, the smoking room wasn't as dangerous as you would think - not only was the room airlocked & pressurized, but it was located at the bottom of the ship. As hydrogen rises the risk was almost nonexistent: Hindenburg Smoking Room

I mean, I know it sounds like sheer insanity today - but initially zeppelins had a simply amazing long-term safety record. Although our over confidence (United States) caused us to loose three in somewhat rapid succession by putting them into absolutely horrid weather conditions, the Hindenburg disaster really was an aberration. There are some who say that had the spectacular accident not been caught on film, passenger airships wouldn't have fallen out of favor so suddenly - hydrogen was already being discontinued in favor of helium* and the death toll of the Hindenburg crash was just 35 out of it's 100 passengers - and that was still by far the worst passenger airship loss.

*the Hindenburg didn't use helium because the United States was the primary supplier & we had a trade embargo w/Germany at the time.



...heh - forgive me, I've a good friend whom is an airship history fanati... erm... enthusiast