Wapsi Square Forum

Alkarii wrote:Speaking of invasive plants, I have a bamboo thicket that surrounds my house. It was flattened by a bulldozer recently, but small shoots are appearing.

Looks like I need to make improvised napalm...

Styrofoam dissolved in gasoline? Or do you have another recipe?

Typeminer wrote:

Alkarii wrote:Speaking of invasive plants, I have a bamboo thicket that surrounds my house. It was flattened by a bulldozer recently, but small shoots are appearing.

Looks like I need to make improvised napalm...

Styrofoam dissolved in gasoline? Or do you have another recipe?

While that is my preferred recipe, you can also use tiki torch oil and powdered sugar.

Moth balls. Gasoline. Soap flakes.

Vaseline and saltpeter.

Sugar and saltpeter, carefully melted together then poured into a container and allowed to cool and solidify, makes an excellent smoke bomb.

GlytchMeister wrote:

Typeminer wrote:

Alkarii wrote:Speaking of invasive plants, I have a bamboo thicket that surrounds my house. It was flattened by a bulldozer recently, but small shoots are appearing.

Looks like I need to make improvised napalm...

Styrofoam dissolved in gasoline? Or do you have another recipe?

While that is my preferred recipe, you can also use tiki torch oil and powdered sugar.

I always preferred Thickening Agent M2 . . .

Of course, that's a little hard to get.

GlytchMeister wrote:

FreeFlier wrote:. . . In the southwest, ranchers will burn the spines off prickly pear with a flamethrower so the cattle can eat it. Apparently the cattle like it.

I WANT THAT JOB. I want to be the guy with the flamethrower!

I know someone who get paid (sometimes - when someone wants the service) to fly his helicopter around with what amounts to a flamethrower squirting burning napalm onto what he flies over . . .

Seriously. It's called a flying drip torch, and it's used for rapid ignition of slash burns after logging.

--FreeFlier

...That seems like a good way to create controlled burns to help prevent the bad kind of forest fire.

It also seems like a good way to scare the crap out of a lot of people. I mean, what would you do if a crop-duster flew overhead and suddenly everything is on fire?

Why, yes, I did just think of a way to modify a crop-duster into a Pyroplane off the top of my head. Why do you ask?

Typeminer wrote:

Alkarii wrote:Speaking of invasive plants, I have a bamboo thicket that surrounds my house. It was flattened by a bulldozer recently, but small shoots are appearing.

Looks like I need to make improvised napalm...

Styrofoam dissolved in gasoline? Or do you have another recipe?

Got it in one! HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND!

*pointedly pockets hands*

Let's refrain from sharp impacts while dealing with unstable chemicals, shall we?

GlytchMeister wrote:Let's refrain from sharp impacts while dealing with unstable chemicals, shall we?

And what about unstable people?

GlytchMeister wrote:...That seems like a good way to create controlled burns to help prevent the bad kind of forest fire.

It also seems like a good way to scare the crap out of a lot of people. I mean, what would you do if a crop-duster flew overhead and suddenly everything is on fire? . . .

Obviously it's very controlled . . . the only people around know exactly what's going on.

They don't even allow people to come out from town to watch . . . darnit!

GlytchMeister wrote:...Why, yes, I did just think of a way to modify a crop-duster into a Pyroplane off the top of my head. Why do you ask?

Don't tease . . . details!



Part of the reason for the flying driptorch is that it's sometimes safer than ground methods, because you don't have people on the ground struggling through slash piles while lighting the clearcut on fire . . .

Anyone who's tried to walk through a northwest clearcut will know exactly what I mean!


Now for a spectacular start on a slash burn, try mass ignition . . . they set canisters of napalm with a built-in igniter out all over the unit, string detonating cord through them and connect it all together . . . then detonate the det cord!

I'm informed that the WHOOMP! is world-class!


I don't know if they still use mass ignition . . . it was used some in the 1960s, but it never was all that popular.

--FreeFlier

Catawampus wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:Let's refrain from sharp impacts while dealing with unstable chemicals, shall we?

And what about unstable people?

Well, at least we're committed...

Typeminer wrote:

Alkarii wrote:Speaking of invasive plants, I have a bamboo thicket that surrounds my house. It was flattened by a bulldozer recently, but small shoots are appearing.

Looks like I need to make improvised napalm...

Styrofoam dissolved in gasoline? Or do you have another recipe?

Laundry soap (Ivory is the preferred brand) works well to gel unleaded gasoline, but I'm not sure how well it works with modern ethanol blends.

GlytchMeister wrote:Sugar and saltpeter, carefully melted together then poured into a container and allowed to cool and solidify, makes an excellent smoke bomb.

Smoke bomb, hell. In the proper proportions, that's solid rocket fuel.

At least at one time model rocketeers referred to it as "caramel candy", both because of how you make it and what it looks like.

It' actually pretty safe to make at home - its melting point is zomewhere in the upper-400° F range, but its ignition point is over 600F.

God, i miss JetX.

FreeFlier wrote: Don't tease . . . details!
--FreeFlier

Basically, you load the crop duster with something flammable... If the plane's distribution mechanism is designed for low-viscosity liquid, I recommend either gasoline, isopropyl, or ethanol, depending on what doesn't dissolve the seals, o-rings, and whatever mechanisms are involved. Acetone works too, but seeing as that stuff dissolves superglue, I doubt it's friendly to whatever crop duster you have. Naphtha, mineral oil, same category as acetone.

If it can handle higher-viscosity liquids, you can maybe use motor oil, tiki torch oil, or even stickier you can pump jellied gasoline. Just be sure it won't clog. Last thing you need is a clogged nozzle with a bit of burning napalm stuck to the tip...connected to a tank strapped to the bottom of the airplane you're currently depending on keeping you alive and not splattered on the ground below.

Powders are tricky in a flame-thrower configuration, be it man-portable or mounted to a vehicle. Self-oxidizing powders are easier, as you don't have to worry about stoichiometry... But it tends to burn too quickly to get the right distance you would need. Plus, I highly recommend you don't spray burning gunpowder from anything. Listen to your self-preservation instinct on this one, trust me.
Fuel-air powder methods are extremely finicky. You'll be trying to dial into a very fine stoichiometric range juuuust a wee bit off from the detonation ratio. Using fuel that will be moving at a high velocity.
Too many variables, too many ways it can go horribly wrong. Or horribly right.

If you really wanna get mean, and you have absolutely no qualms about killing every goddamn thing, you can try a thermite powder with magnesium filings. But I also highly recommend you listen to your self preservation here too, because thermite is like a very angry animal. If you give it any opportunity to do something other than what you tell it to do, it will turn around and happily incinerate you, which will not only kill you but hurt the entire time you are dying.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm kinda scared of thermite. And I'm a pyromaniac. This should tell you comparatively normal people you oughta be freakin' terrified of the stuff.

The trick here (besides finding a suitable fuel) is to install an external ignition system below and away from the fuel release, igniting the load as it falls or is propelled away as it passes, without also igniting the plane. Running propane or oxy-acetylene through a metal pipe bent in a ring-like shape around the release and slightly below with holes drilled into the inside circumference would probably do wonderfully. Some heat-shielding from a couple cars (the stuff they line the engine compartment with to keep your legs from roasting) or maybe some low-density non-flammable foam (pumice?) to keep the radiant heat from the burning weapon fuel and the ignition system from igniting your plane, and I think you'd be good to go.

I wouldn't do this with a human in the same plane, however. I'd look up ways to drone-ify the plane. I'd probably hack and kludge a commercially-available flight simulation program and hardware setup to create a 1:1 control (like the MythBusters did when they remote-controlled the bus).

And this is all off of the top of my head.

Opus the Poet wrote: Laundry soap (Ivory is the preferred brand) works well to gel unleaded gasoline, but I'm not sure how well it works with modern ethanol blends.

Tide is the preferred blend used by NASCAR for on-track spills, from what I understand.

Catawampus wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:Let's refrain from sharp impacts while dealing with unstable chemicals, shall we?

And what about unstable people?

HEY! I'm back on my meds so LAY OFF!!!

GlytchMeister wrote:

FreeFlier wrote:Don't tease . . . details!

Basically, you load the crop duster with something flammable... If the plane's distribution mechanism is designed for low-viscosity liquid, I recommend either gasoline, isopropyl, or ethanol, depending on what doesn't dissolve the seals, o-rings, and whatever mechanisms are involved. Acetone works too, but seeing as that stuff dissolves superglue, I doubt it's friendly to whatever crop duster you have. Naphtha, mineral oil, same category as acetone.

I'd be surprised if it would work with gasoline or similar things . . . one of the things I remember from the flamethrower research between WWI & WWII is that gasoline is too thin to carry well: it dissipates in a visually spectacular but very short-ranged "blossom" . . . IIRC, ten to fifteen meters was about the limit. Thickened fuel held together in a stream, which is why they went to napalm.

It would probably be pretty impressive looking, though.

GlytchMeister wrote:If it can handle higher-viscosity liquids, you can maybe use motor oil, tiki torch oil, or even stickier you can pump jellied gasoline.

The problem is that the heavier fuels are hard to ignite . . . motor oil is actually designed to not burn, so it's pretty hard to burn under much of any conditions.

And napalm is nothing more than thickened/jellied gasoline.

There was quite a bit of research put into this between the wars.

GlytchMeister wrote:Just be sure it won't clog. Last thing you need is a clogged nozzle with a bit of burning napalm stuck to the tip...connected to a tank strapped to the bottom of the airplane you're currently depending on keeping you alive and not splattered on the ground below.

Oh yeah!

GlytchMeister wrote:Powders are tricky in a flame-thrower configuration, be it man-portable or mounted to a vehicle. Self-oxidizing powders are easier, as you don't have to worry about stoichiometry... But it tends to burn too quickly to get the right distance you would need. Plus, I highly recommend you don't spray burning gunpowder from anything. Listen to your self-preservation instinct on this one, trust me.
Fuel-air powder methods are extremely finicky. You'll be trying to dial into a very fine stoichiometric range juuuust a wee bit off from the detonation ratio. Using fuel that will be moving at a high velocity.
Too many variables, too many ways it can go horribly wrong. Or horribly right.

I'd be surprised if you could get that to work at all. As you say, very very tricky.

GlytchMeister wrote:If you really wanna get mean, and you have absolutely no qualms about killing every goddamn thing, you can try a thermite powder with magnesium filings. But I also highly recommend you listen to your self preservation here too, because thermite is like a very angry animal. If you give it any opportunity to do something other than what you tell it to do, it will turn around and happily incinerate you, which will not only kill you but hurt the entire time you are dying.

Again, I'd be surprised if you could get thermite to work at all . . . it's hard to ignite. And the only reason the military even developed thermite grenades is destruction of material to prevent capture.

GlytchMeister wrote:If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm kinda scared of thermite. And I'm a pyromaniac. This should tell you comparatively normal people you oughta be freakin' terrified of the stuff.

It's not that bad. It's used in industry for certain welding jobs.

I wonder if you aren't thinking of white phosphorus . . . that's nasty stuff, basically self-igniting. White phosphorus munitions

The trick here (besides finding a suitable fuel) is to install an external ignition system below and away from the fuel release, igniting the load as it falls or is propelled away as it passes, without also igniting the plane. Running propane or oxy-acetylene through a metal pipe bent in a ring-like shape around the release and slightly below with holes drilled into the inside circumference would probably do wonderfully. Some heat-shielding from a couple cars (the stuff they line the engine compartment with to keep your legs from roasting) or maybe some low-density non-flammable foam (pumice?) to keep the radiant heat from the burning weapon fuel and the ignition system from igniting your plane, and I think you'd be good to go.[/quote]
I'd use a polished stainless-steel heat shield with an air space behind it to protect the skin of the aircraft.

I'd also mix up a dyed batch of inert simulant of similar physical properties and try that . . . if you get simulant on the airframe, make changes and try again.

GlytchMeister wrote:I wouldn't do this with a human in the same plane, however. I'd look up ways to drone-ify the plane. I'd probably hack and kludge a commercially-available flight simulation program and hardware setup to create a 1:1 control (like the MythBusters did when they remote-controlled the bus).

And this is all off of the top of my head.

Remote has its problems too.

Sgt. Howard wrote:

Catawampus wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:Let's refrain from sharp impacts while dealing with unstable chemicals, shall we?

And what about unstable people?

HEY! I'm back on my meds so LAY OFF!!!

Would unstable people be those that weren't born in a barn?

/flrrd/

--FreeFlier

GlytchMeister wrote:Basically, you load the crop duster with something flammable... If the plane's distribution mechanism is designed for low-viscosity liquid, I recommend either gasoline, isopropyl, or ethanol, depending on what doesn't dissolve the seals, o-rings, and whatever mechanisms are involved. Acetone works too, but seeing as that stuff dissolves superglue, I doubt it's friendly to whatever crop duster you have. Naphtha, mineral oil, same category as acetone.

If it can handle higher-viscosity liquids, you can maybe use motor oil, tiki torch oil, or even stickier you can pump jellied gasoline. Just be sure it won't clog. Last thing you need is a clogged nozzle with a bit of burning napalm stuck to the tip...connected to a tank strapped to the bottom of the airplane you're currently depending on keeping you alive and not splattered on the ground below.

Powders are tricky in a flame-thrower configuration, be it man-portable or mounted to a vehicle. Self-oxidizing powders are easier, as you don't have to worry about stoichiometry... But it tends to burn too quickly to get the right distance you would need. Plus, I highly recommend you don't spray burning gunpowder from anything. Listen to your self-preservation instinct on this one, trust me.
Fuel-air powder methods are extremely finicky. You'll be trying to dial into a very fine stoichiometric range juuuust a wee bit off from the detonation ratio. Using fuel that will be moving at a high velocity.

It doesn't really work. The dispersion problem is just too much of a hurdle. You end up with such a low-density cloud of fuel that it either won't ignite or doesn't do much if it does, the wind and the turbulence of the aircraft make it go in unpredictable directions, and you have to fly way too low and slow for it to have any hope of being effective. The only effective way found so far to get enough fuel in one area is to drop a canister that falls intact, then breaks apart just above the target. Or that breaks apart on the target. Or that just breaks the target.

The trick here (besides finding a suitable fuel) is to install an external ignition system below and away from the fuel release, igniting the load as it falls or is propelled away as it passes, without also igniting the plane. Running propane or oxy-acetylene through a metal pipe bent in a ring-like shape around the release and slightly below with holes drilled into the inside circumference would probably do wonderfully. Some heat-shielding from a couple cars (the stuff they line the engine compartment with to keep your legs from roasting) or maybe some low-density non-flammable foam (pumice?) to keep the radiant heat from the burning weapon fuel and the ignition system from igniting your plane, and I think you'd be good to go.

Or you could go the simple route: drop some flares.