9 replies to this topic

[pritch]

 

I thought you guys might like to see it! I guess you would call it the 100kg rocket/missile.

[Sparky]

There are a few things that amaze me about these festivals I've seen:

 

1. The blatant disregard for safety

2. The cost for 100kg of even home brewed BP must be significant for people in this region.

3. That they use giant sticks to stabilise.

4. How do they ram the BP into the tubes?

[pyrotrev]

Amazing! Take your point about the sticks Sparky, even if they attached the thin end of the bamboo to the motor it would work better length for length. And I would want to put some kind of a header on anything that was going up that far!

[Arthur Brown]

A previous mention of these rockets included that they were fired for gambling, how far/high or long a time. Perhaps one of the forum members in that area would care to explain something about the cultural reasons behind the rockets. However these pics showed blue tube which says "water main pipe" to me, previous mentions of these rockets included the mention of the bodies being made from hollowed out logs

[Karl Mitchell-Shead]

Passfire have just done a big piece for their movie over there so maybe wait that out and all will be revealed?

[bangkokpyro]

A previous mention of these rockets included that they were fired for gambling, how far/high or long a time. Perhaps one of the forum members in that area would care to explain something about the cultural reasons behind the rockets. However these pics showed blue tube which says "water main pipe" to me, previous mentions of these rockets included the mention of the bodies being made from hollowed out logs

 

These rockets are made and launched to bring on the rain during the month of May each year, the most famous rocket festival is at Yasathorn in the north east of Thailand and is held during the second week of May each year but down in the south west of the country in Sakgeow province rockets ranging in size from 7 Kg to 1000 Kg are launched at big and small festivals throughout the months of May, June and July.

50 years or so ago these rockets would have been made using bamboo with layers of cloth bound around the outsides to give them strength but now all rockets are made from blue PVC water pipe. The smaller rockets (10kg) use 2 inch ID pipe while the 1 ton size utilizes a 12 inch pipe. In the countryside around Sakgeow groups of enthusiasts get together on weekends to launch mostly smaller sizes and yes they gamble on the longest time from launch to the rocket returning to earth.

The tubes are filled with a mix of Potassium Nitrate and charcoal (no Sulphur) and the mix is very coarse, if you take a small pile of the mixed comp and ignite it on the ground it hardly burns. Crude hydraulic presses are used to press the increments into the pipe and the PVC tube is held inside a sand filled steel pipe while being pressed. 'sticks' are bamboo poles that have been heat treated to keep them from warping and to make them hard. The nozzle is formed with an increment of clay as well as a hardwood plug.

Flight times range from 2 to 5 minutes and some reach an altitude of over 3000 mts. Most spent rockets return to earth 3 or 4 miles from the launch site and the stick/tube is balanced so that the rocket decends horizontaly rather than coming down nose first (this gives a longer flight time).

The rockets are ignited with a crude 'electrical match' a small wad of iron wool is attached on opposite sides to 2 wires then put into a small thumb sized plastic bag of B.P. The bag is taped to the end of a thin bamboo stick and inserted 2/3 of the way up the rockets core ( all these rockets are cored) the 'e match' wires are then bought into contact with a 12 volt car battery to ignite the rocket.

[Sparky]

Thanks for the details! Much appreciated. I still find the blatant disregard for any form of safety amazing and actually slightly enlightening in Nanny UK. 

[bangkokpyro]

Posted 12 August 2013 - 01:55 AM

Thanks for the details! Much appreciated. I still find the blatant disregard for any form of safety amazing and actually slightly enlightening in Nanny UK.

 

 

 

I am a strong believer in doing things with safety first in mind at all times but the health and safety crap that pervades almost every aspect of everyday life in the UK is just over the top.

I would love to see a return to the past where peoples safety was mostly dependant on their own common sense; something the majority of people seem devoid of these days.

I'm so glad I live here where things are unregulated and health and safety takes a back seat !

 

Here is a short video of a 6 kg Thai rocket comp being prepared and some of the pressing procedure involved.

While I don't reccomend the use of PVC tubes to make rockets they are used exclusively here for 6 to 1000 kg rockets.

Sure a cato will send sharp shards of plastic in all directions ad injure you but using that forgotten attribute common sense if you are not close to it during ignition no harm will come to you

 

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=DMQgFhRhAl4

Edited by bangkokpyro, 15 August 2013 - 01:00 PM.

[Sparky]

Great video, the comp was very slow burning but I guess once dry and with a core you don't need it to be too vigorous.

[bangkokpyro]

The comp is that damp when the rocket is launched, if it dries out it will cato. Before launch the bore of all rockets is dampened to just the right degree so it will burn at the correct rate for a long burn time and yes it is the core that gives it the needed thrust.......these comps will not work of course in end burner type rockets.