Zerohour Posted September 16, 2013 Posted September 16, 2013 Hello everyone. I'm new to APC, but not to pyrotechnics in general. I must say that this is an incredible site and the people here seem to be more mature and helpful than those on some of the other sites I have visited. Back to the topic: Over the past few years I have become increasingly interested in pyrotechnics and would like to join a club to meet others who are interested in amature pyro as well. The reason is that I would like to get more insight from folks with more experience than myself, as well as just getting to know others who share my fascination. Most of my friends just enjoying lighting fireworks and aren't as interested in the making of them. I live in the northern part of Utah, so even a southern Idaho club would be a possibility for me; I live 20 minutes from the Id border. Thank you for your considerations.
Xtreme Pyro Posted September 16, 2013 Posted September 16, 2013 I think your best bet would probably just be the WPA. We have two major meets a year. Winterblast which is held in mid February in Lake Havasu City AZ, and Do-It held in Hawthorne Nevada, usually in late sept/early october. The next do-it is coming up 10 days from now, September 26-29th. There are quite a few members from the Utah and Idaho areas. http://www.westernpyro.org
Zerohour Posted September 16, 2013 Author Posted September 16, 2013 Thanks for the link! It seems as though pyro isn't as popular out here as it is in the Great Lakes area. Not many clubs that I am aware of.
Carbon796 Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 (edited) You can also try here ... Utah Pyrotechnics Association 2983 South 300 W Salt Lake City, UT 84115 Region: UT www.utahpyro.org Contact: Bob Pierson killerismyname@yahoo.com Edited September 17, 2013 by Carbon796
Zerohour Posted September 17, 2013 Author Posted September 17, 2013 Thank you. I don't know how I missed that one.
Maserface Posted September 17, 2013 Posted September 17, 2013 Unfortunately I dont think the UPA does a whole lot, at least by the looks of their site. but as Xtreme said most idaho/utah attend WPA events, myself included. 20 minutes from ID? We might be neighbors !
Zerohour Posted September 18, 2013 Author Posted September 18, 2013 That's what it looks like to me as well. Maybe just a few guys. If you live that close to the border as well, we must be neighbors. Aggie by any chance?
Maserface Posted September 18, 2013 Posted September 18, 2013 Not an aggie but I have lived in the area for several years now, what kind of stuff do you make?
Zerohour Posted September 19, 2013 Author Posted September 19, 2013 Cool... I've only been here for a couple years. I'm in to making rockets now, but I like it all. I just got some new 8 oz BP rocket tooling that I'm looking forward to trying out. What about you?
Maserface Posted September 19, 2013 Posted September 19, 2013 mainly rockets, ive made some stars and shells but I mostly just build rockets
gregkdc1 Posted September 19, 2013 Posted September 19, 2013 Try these guys they are more active then the other link. http://www.saltlakeareapyros.com/ I live in central Utah and although I don't do a whole lot with pyro I am very interested in experimental rocketry and try to keep tabs on what is going on in the state. I know some of the members are from northern Utah and one of the guys that lives up there was working on getting a legal manufacturing site. So there are definitely fellow pyro’s up your way.
Maserface Posted September 19, 2013 Posted September 19, 2013 awesome! I sent them a message. Looks like they had a shoot last weekend maybe. damn, I also think I had mag duty with one of the guys on their forum at WWB last year :0 -- small pyro world
Zerohour Posted September 20, 2013 Author Posted September 20, 2013 Thanks for the reply. I will send them a message and see what they've got going on. Maserface: next time you get ready to fire some off let me know and I'll bring a few of my own designs.
Maserface Posted September 21, 2013 Posted September 21, 2013 they seem like friendly dudes, I am pretty sure I met "Dan" at WWB last year. I emailed them for more info and apparently im in the club now
Zerohour Posted September 23, 2013 Author Posted September 23, 2013 We built and fired some 8 oz'ers today. No problems at all. I got great elevation considering that I mixed the comp on the spot in a Ziplock bag. I imagine they would be quite a bit faster with milled fuel. Next I'll be experimenting on how much weight they will lift. Wolter's specifications summary claims that the rockets can carry 120 grams, but I suspect that this is a conservitive estimate.
Maserface Posted September 23, 2013 Posted September 23, 2013 where do you launch these babies? Is there enough clearance for 3lb??
Zerohour Posted September 23, 2013 Author Posted September 23, 2013 This weekend I went down to a buddie's house near provo (about two hours from me ) and we launched over a freshly plowed dirt field that's probably 20 or 30 acres. Plenty big for 3 lb rockets. That's probably one of the most frustrating parts of pyro for me: finding an area to launch. The winters here, as I'm sure you're aware of, offer many more possibilities because of the reduced fire risk, but it's COLD! Now is a great time if you know any farmers because most of their crops have been harvested and tilled in. What about you; any good spots closer to us?
Maserface Posted September 23, 2013 Posted September 23, 2013 ah cool, I am working on a place to launch some big stuff, a relative of mine has a bunch of useless land in some river bottoms, I want to get it set up for launching eventually. For now I think ill just wait for rain and play it by ear. I cant wait for snow
Zerohour Posted September 24, 2013 Author Posted September 24, 2013 Ya that's what I'm looking for too. I'd like to see some of those 3 lb'ers in action. Post a video when you launch em'. I like the 8 oz and 1 lb rockets mostly because they don't take a lot of fuel, carry decent headers, and are easily hand pressed; I don't have a mechanical press. I've launced some big mortars, but I like rockets better.
Maserface Posted September 24, 2013 Posted September 24, 2013 I havent made any 3lbers yet, going to a shoot this week and I hope to get 20 or so in the air. how much fuel does your 8oz use?
Zerohour Posted September 24, 2013 Author Posted September 24, 2013 Oh nice. Is that the WPA event? I would like to go, but I've got classes during the week and it would be a lot of gas $ for me to make it. My 8 oz'ers take a little over 30 grams each. The specs that came with the tooling list a payload capacity of 120 grams without significantly affecting the rocket's flight. I didn't get a chance to lift more than about 50 grams this weekend because it was kind of a spontanious thing. I should've lifted a dummy header just to see. I'm also going to spice up the powder in the next ones
Zerohour Posted September 24, 2013 Author Posted September 24, 2013 60-30-10. charcoal is all airfloat. I think I'll try 65-25-10 next.
Maserface Posted September 24, 2013 Posted September 24, 2013 cool cool. speaking of which, I need to throw some more BP in the mill ive got some 6:3:1:1lampblack I cant wait to try
Zerohour Posted September 24, 2013 Author Posted September 24, 2013 I've never used any lampblack. How does it affect your rockets? Is it for tail effect? I'm thinking of picking up some Cuo for some blue stars. It's probably my favorite color, but I've never made any. What about you? I've also never used any star tools; I just cut em. The pumped stars look pretty cool though.
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