Guinness world record attempt 60 inch shell

[hindsight]

"Quaking" with laughter.

[pyroman2498]

While you guys are thinking of shooting it from a mortar I would more think to launch it on a rocket , the pressure and force from the lift may split the shell causing a disaster, a rocket may work better if you could get a engine large enough . I mean NASA and SpaceX launch really heavy things into space , also have they taken into account that if it does flower pot that it would be massive. Just a few things , I haven't really looked into this much but when I heard this I thought I would give my thoughts

[Niladmirari]

Imagine whistle motor for this shell and he sound of his burning Stick stabilizer - cedar tree entirely, all tree

Edited March 31, 2014 by Niladmirari

[Arthur]

cplmac2 (see youtube) did a 12" shell on a 3" whistle motor with a stick that would do an estate agent proud.

[nater]

This project is still going forward, they just suspended the Kickstarter campaign while they were looking at cheaper methods of taping the shell than a custom WASP. As for using a rocket or a plane, that ruins the spirit of the challenge which is to launch the World's largest firework shell. This implies launching from a mortar rather than as a rocket heading or other type of device.

 

Ddewees, we work with a team who performs night skydives with pyrotechnics. There are some hurdles getting approval from everyone, but it is possible. I suspect it might be easier with this team since they use custom close prox devices and their plane and pilots are all owned by them. They're also not dropping 5 ft shells, but still, I would think it could be done with enough planning in advance.

[taiwanluthiers]

Seriously building a gun this size has got to be like the Paris gun or something. You know takes days to deploy, require an entire Batallion of men to man them, etc. and that's just for one shot. But I guess going for a world record is never easy...

[mikeee]

If I was doing this I would drill the hole drop in a steel tube and pour concrete around the steel tube to reinforce it.

They will need a good amount of footing in the bottom of the hole to keep the mortar from sinking into the ground.

This will require some good sized equipment to drill the hole and lift the pipe etc.

[Bobosan]

Just use a decommissioned ICBM launch site somewhere in Kansas. The hole should already be there.

[taiwanluthiers]

You still have to do something about all the doors and vent ducts... I think missile silo has a vent duct to allow the gas to vent safely outside rather than being contained within the tube, fine for a rocket launch but not good if you want to use it as a cannon. Plus I think those silo tubes are at least 30 feet across... if anyone built a shell that big it will be a true world record for sure!

Edited April 1, 2014 by taiwanluthiers

[ddewees]

http://www.americanaugers.com/equipment/auger-boring-machines/60-1200.html

[Mumbles]

You still have to do something about all the doors and vent ducts... I think missile silo has a vent duct to allow the gas to vent safely outside rather than being contained within the tube, fine for a rocket launch but not good if you want to use it as a cannon. Plus I think those silo tubes are at least 30 feet across... if anyone built a shell that big it will be a true world record for sure!

 

 

Wow, you really just have no idea how to interpret sarcasm, do you?

[taiwanluthiers]

I had no idea there was even sarcasm.

[Bobosan]

I had no idea there was even sarcasm.

 

Well obviously they really couldn't use a missile silo. Wasn't being serious.

 

The hole would be there though. Like mikeee said, slide in the tube, fill in around it!

[hindsight]

When reading something in a non-native tongue, subtle wit can sometimes be lost. That's why we need a "sarcasm" emoticon [insert facetiousness emoticon here].

[pyroman2498]

Let's call this shell 5000lb that means we need about 500lb of BP to lift the shell . I see a crater in the future ....

[Niladmirari]

500/5000 = 1/10 ?

By the rule for big shells (more 20lb): 1lb - 0,5 ounce BP. Right? 5000lbs shell - 150lbs BP.

 

Important question - what size do granules BP?

[Niladmirari]

Let's call this shell 5000lb that means we need about 500lb of BP to lift the shell . I see a crater in the future ....

No crater. We do mortar start Satana rocket. Her weight 211000 kg (468888lbs). Height lift 20-30 meters. Imagine how much BP...

 

Edited April 6, 2014 by Niladmirari

[MrB]

500/5000 = 1/10 ?

By the rule for big shells (more 20lb): 1lb - 0,5 ounce BP. Right? 5000lbs shell - 150lbs BP.

 

Important question - what size do granules BP?

To make loading, and handling somewhat manageable, i'd say something like a mix of ping pong & tennis-ball size. Ok, so in reality, i have no idea, i just wanna see that size "granuals" test burn... It would look like anthracite coal if graphite treated, and imagine the shock if someone tried to light it in their stove...

 

No crater. We do mortar start Satana rocket. Her weight 211000 kg (468888lbs). Height lift 20-30 meters. Imagine how much BP...

 

That launch is fookin amazing. I'm pretty sure they aren't using BP to launch it with, there just has to be better stuff for that size tubes, to be honest. Google wasn't helpful, and that dude knows everything, so my Googlefu is apparently weak.

Oh well.

Launching rockets like that is supposedly how most early missile system did, it's just on a huge scale. I must say, awesome.

B!

[bob]

Perhaps we pyros should go together and get some of these self propelled rocket launchers for lifting shells

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaNM-qW6V98

bob

[nlrfly]

I think there could be legal challenges to air dropping shells... mostly it's against the law to carry explosives on a plane. Might be easier to cooperate with the military on this matter and drop it from a military aircraft. An altimeter would be needed to be installed on the shell so that it bursts at a precise altitude.

give FIFI something to do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG-cTxPdYbs

[Peret]

Applying the 100 feet per inch rule, this shell will have to go to 6000 feet. Ignoring for the moment air resistance, that means it has to be rising for about 20 seconds, from which we can calculate the required muzzle velocity as about 620 ft/sec. Allowing for air resistance, a finger in the air estimate says that velocity had better be more like 900 ft/sec.

 

Checking with ancient books by people who understood gunpowder, I see that the 1860 Armstrong 20 pounder achieved 1100 ft/sec with 2.5 pounds of powder, while the 100 pounder did it with 12 pounds. It could probably have managed 900 ft/sec with 10 pounds, that is, 10% of the projectile weight. So, depending how heavy the shell turns out, 500 pounds of powder is not out of the question. But it won't be 2FA. The big guns of old used powder pressed into hexagonal prisms 1 to 2 inches across (depending on caliber) and the same long, with a core up the middle, that burned more like a rocket engine than a firecracker. A finer grain powder in that quantity would have burned too fast and burst the breech. The slow burn, though, needs a long barrel, like 20 calibers, or 100 feet in the case of this shell.

 

It will for sure be a sight to see it launched if it eventually gets made, but I have serious doubts that it's practical.