06-21-2011, 03:23 AM
Hi,
Easy stuff to make. In high school, I built an outdoor lab in the back yard. I used railroad ties and triple 1" glass plate (with clear adhesive between the pieces and a zig-zag mirror (2 reflections to eliminate the left-right confusion). I made Waldos from bamboo, wire, and pulleys. I made most of the explosives whose formulas were obtainable from the library -- destroying about a dozen home made work tables in the process. I'm surprised your friend survived -- nitro is nasty stuff.
Congratulations. I think I still have a box or two of rocketry odds and ends (including a launch platform and about 40 assorted Estes engines) somewhere around here. It's a fun hobby, but all that running is too much for my old legs. My last attempt -- liquid fueled X-15 replica with radio control for recovery and landing -- got rekitted a few times before making one last, expensive, crater.
I love that scene, how Alfonso Bedoya goes from defensive ("Badges? We ain't got no badges.") to confident ("We don't need no badges!") to aggressive ("I don't have to show you no stinking badges!")
I was on a trip, carrying classified material, with a supervisor once. There was a strike going on, so we crossed the picket lines not wearing our ID badges. We got to the security office, where we were going to store the briefcase with the classified material. When we got inside, the security guard in charge asked us where our badges were. The wise guy supervisor got about as far as "We don't need no ..." before three automatics were aimed at us. Needless to say, we hurriedly showed our badges.
Did you know that in November, in the North Atlantic, a large liner (like, say, the Mauritania) could routinely bury as much as a quarter of its length in an oncoming wave?
--Pete
(06-20-2011, 10:47 PM)LavCat Wrote: Had one friend ... who was into nitroglycerin ...
Easy stuff to make. In high school, I built an outdoor lab in the back yard. I used railroad ties and triple 1" glass plate (with clear adhesive between the pieces and a zig-zag mirror (2 reflections to eliminate the left-right confusion). I made Waldos from bamboo, wire, and pulleys. I made most of the explosives whose formulas were obtainable from the library -- destroying about a dozen home made work tables in the process. I'm surprised your friend survived -- nitro is nasty stuff.
(06-20-2011, 10:47 PM)LavCat Wrote: Changing the subject only slightly, my grandson recently sent up his first rocket!
Congratulations. I think I still have a box or two of rocketry odds and ends (including a launch platform and about 40 assorted Estes engines) somewhere around here. It's a fun hobby, but all that running is too much for my old legs. My last attempt -- liquid fueled X-15 replica with radio control for recovery and landing -- got rekitted a few times before making one last, expensive, crater.
(06-20-2011, 10:47 PM)LavCat Wrote: ... The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. ...
... if only for the stinkin' badges.
I love that scene, how Alfonso Bedoya goes from defensive ("Badges? We ain't got no badges.") to confident ("We don't need no badges!") to aggressive ("I don't have to show you no stinking badges!")
I was on a trip, carrying classified material, with a supervisor once. There was a strike going on, so we crossed the picket lines not wearing our ID badges. We got to the security office, where we were going to store the briefcase with the classified material. When we got inside, the security guard in charge asked us where our badges were. The wise guy supervisor got about as far as "We don't need no ..." before three automatics were aimed at us. Needless to say, we hurriedly showed our badges.
Did you know that in November, in the North Atlantic, a large liner (like, say, the Mauritania) could routinely bury as much as a quarter of its length in an oncoming wave?
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?