Aerial Shells

[Rocket007]

waw. haw can you paste it so whel. it is looking like a shell that i can buy buy a pyro shop. gratulation i hope you will make more of this shells and let them fly at new year .

 

if I put the lift in a tub and spike it like shell is the lift more powerful? Is it ok if i only strew the BP it the mortar put a fuse from the side and only low the shell in the mortar. i only stay this qestion, because a pyro friend do this with his 2" shells. i prefere to pot the BP in a bag and then tape the bage on the shell, and the fuse is not from the side so it is no hole in the mortar???

 

 

LP, ROK

[ThaYankee]

Here is a video of one of mine 2 inchers.

I think I fire the 3" this weekend. So there will be a movie of it soon

 

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/ThaYankee/Movies/th_Mortier2inch8mix2alusimpelelift.jpg

[justanotherpyro]

Definately a good 2 inch shell. What composition was that? It looks like a glitter but that could just be from the poor video quality.

[ThaYankee]

It was a composition with aluminium in it (the glitters)

I don't know the exactly formule of it anymore, cause I change my composites all the time (lot's of testing)

But I think it looked like this one:

 

KNO3: 65

C: 45

S: 10

Aluminium fine:3

Aluminium flakes: 3

Dextrin: 7

[rocket]

That’s a very nice looking 3” shell you got there, should be good to see the video.

Nice break on that 2” too.

[JamesH]

ThaYankee, I'm very impressed with the break on that 2" shell of yours! Can you share any details on the construction and burst charge?

[Mumbles]

If you look at the break frame by frame, there is a white center indicating a flash break usually. I know of no other way to get something to break that hard. Too much light for whistle, and too hard for BP. Perhaps H3, but I don't know if that can even break a shell that hard as I have never used it.

[saluterocket]

Is there any advantage to the off-center comet placement?

[justanotherpyro]

Is there any advantage to the off-center comet placement?

It is good and bad. Generally the leader loop hole ( or ring for plastic shells ) is at the top of the shell and the rising comet has to be off centered anyways. When fired this causes spin which lowers the max height achieved by the shell. Its not a big issue because a bit more lift and it will go to the desired height, the shell already spins a little and the shell kind of strobes as its traveling upwards.

 

Its a good thing to have the rising comet off center because it gets more expsoure to the lift charges' hot gases. This isn't particularly usefull though if you run the shell leader over the rising comets prime and cut a hole in the side of it.

[ThaYankee]

That’s a very nice looking 3” shell you got there, should be good to see the video.

Nice break on that 2” too.

Finally I've fired my 3 inch shell this weekend. And I've even made 2 video's of it.

but both aren't really great.

Video 1 has a good soundquality.... but there was a three standing in the way.

Video 2 has a bad sound quality, but happily there is no three:p

When you watch both video's, it gives a quite nice picture of how it was:)

But it's never as nice as in real life ofcourse. I was really satisfied about this shell!

 

The effect stays really long, but the camera didn't record that really well, I think it's because of the sparks that didn't produce enough light the last few seconds.

 

Movie 1:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/ThaYankee/Movies/th_Mortier3inch-1.jpg

 

Movie 2:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/ThaYankee/Movies/th_Mortier3inch-1mix4Chrysanthemumsimp.jpg

[50caliber]

Hey awesome shell mate. i watched your 2inches and they are spectacular, how much do they weigh and how much lift do you use?

[ThaYankee]

Hey awesome shell mate. i watched your 2inches and they are spectacular, how much do they weigh and how much lift do you use?

Thanx! The 3" weights almost 300 grams including 35 lift

I don't know the exactly weight of the 2"but I thought something near 90 grams(including lift). And I use 11-12 grams lift for the 2" shell

[Silverturk]

What burst charge are you using? Is it just black powder? If it was, that was probably the best break I've seen with just BP.

[ThaYankee]

What burst charge are you using? Is it just black powder? If it was, that was probably the best break I've seen with just BP.

hehe... No I always use a little flash in my shells for a nice break.

For a 3" shell about 3 grams

For a 2" shell about 1.5 grams.

[Mumbles]

Are you using a flash bag, or just mixing it in with the burst?

[ravaz]

Looks good. Nice job!

[ThaYankee]

Are you using a flash bag, or just mixing it in with the burst?

I mix it in with the burst

[Frozentech]

Last night's 3" canister shell. 3/4" crossettes of willow comp. The wind was heavy and rather ripped the hanging willow effect apart, especially on video. There was a nice cloud of sparks drifting in the sky, headed downwind tho. In any case, my daughter seemed to like it...

 

http://www.apcforum.net/files/3inchWillowCrossette.wmv

 

close observers will notice I snuck a single glitter crossette in there, I miscalculated when I was making it and ran short 1 comet of the willow.

[styropyro]

That shell makes me want to say "wooooOOOOW!". But that was one nice shell, even though you said you were missing a comet. And I really liked that willow effect with the crossette, mind sharing the formula with us?

[Frozentech]

That shell makes me want to say "wooooOOOOW!". But that was one nice shell, even though you said you were missing a comet. And I really liked that willow effect with the crossette, mind sharing the formula with us?

The comp was from a post by Mike Swisher on rec.pyrotechnics. Here it is quoted, I changed the quantities to %, as Mike works with large batches :

 

53.60% Potassium Nitrate

23.00% Charcoal (Airfloat)

13.40% Sulfur

4.00% Lampblack

6.00% Dextrin

 

Preparation

 

"Sieve the saltpetre, sulphur and dextrine individually through 40-mesh.

Discard anything that doesn't pass 40-mesh. Separately, sieve the

charcoal through 40-mesh and discard anything that doesn't pass

40-mesh. Now add the lampblack to the mixed saltpetre, sulphur,

dextrine, hand-mix and sieve the mixture through 40-mesh onto the

charcoal. The reason for this is that the lampblack is almost

impossible to sieve by itself, and the other materials help it pass

through the fine screen. Now blend all the ingredients by hand and

sieve three times through 20-mesh.

When pumping, I typically weigh out 100 oz. (6-1/4 lb) or 200 oz.

(12-1/2 lb) quantities of composition and dampen respectively with 6

oz. or 12 oz. of water (i.e., 6%). It needs to be well worked in, which

requires time, and one should not make the error of adding too much

water in one's impatience to get the composition properly damp. Press

as hard as you can without seizing the comet up in the pump. Dry well -

3-4 weeks at normal room temperature with dehumidification is my usual

time. That should give you plenty of opportunity to finish your

hand-rolled shots!"

[maximusg]

Very nice shell Frozentech,

 

Heres a 3 incher i launched recentrly. Unfortunatly my little sister didnt know how to use the auto focus on the cam, and youtube messed up the audiosync. But enough of the excuses heh.

 

 

I was experimenting with BP only breaks (no flash) on smaller shells and i dont think this one was too bad.

 

the stars were an MgAl white, with added granular MgAl do add some nice sparks.

[ThaYankee]

I've been very busy with making shells last time and the results are nice. I think it's gonna be a nice turn of the year (h)

I also hope to double the number.

Here are some pictures:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/Th...lls/Shells6.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/Th...lls/Shells5.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/Th...lls/Shells3.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/Th...lls/Shells2.jpg

[Ozzy]

I've been very busy with making shells last time and the results are nice. I think it's gonna be a nice turn of the year (h)

I also hope to double the number.

Here are some pictures:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/Th...lls/Shells6.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/Th...lls/Shells5.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/Th...lls/Shells3.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m318/Th...lls/Shells2.jpg

NICE!

[50caliber]

Those shells are awesome. Do you make the shell casing yourself?

[Mumbles]

Ozzy, one more useless one line post and you're banned.