Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

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AnotherFairportfan
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Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

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AnotherFairportfan
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

CARS DO NOT EXPLODE.

Ask a firefighter.
Okay - if a car cooks for a long time and builds up sufficient vapour pressure in the tank, then maybe it could BLEVE, but the vapour fuel/air mix in a gasoline tank is too rich to be explosive. But that applies to railroad tank cars full of vinyl chloride and LPG, too.

{In January 1967 a Southern Railway train derailed in Laurel MS; there was an LPG BLEVE. One of the tank cars was thrown 1000 feet in the ir, and at least one wheelset landed a quarter mile away. Freight car wheelsets go about a ton or so...}

Hollywood has convinced most of the population that any car that catches fire will immediately explode in a huge fireball.

Not so – actually, the traditional way of shooting thse things is a quarter-stick of dynamite, ten or twenty pounds of kitty litter and a gallon of rubber cement…
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lake_wrangler
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by lake_wrangler »

Here, we see the danger of being too vague and hypothetical when talking with someone...



Meanwhile...

That's Jaquline? That's quite the design change, from the earlier strips...

I did not recognize her. I only found out who it was, based on the tags below the comic...

Admittedly, there was an intermediate form, so to speak, which I forgot about, when Shelley recommended Luci to help Castela relax... (Story arc starts here...)
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by FreeFlier »

That's one thing Beverly Hills Cop got right . . . car chases and car crashes left, right and center . . . and the only car that exploded was the one that the slightly bumbling rookie shot with a LAW rocket.

And a friend of mine had his dragster explode . . . the engine burst when the crankshaft burst at mid-pass. (He and the chassis survived, however.)

--FreeFlier
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AnotherFairportfan
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

Don Garlits lost half a foot to a clutch explosion. After the the NHRA specified armor blankets wrapped around the bell housing.
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by FreeFlier »

And the automatic transmissions are required to have a "flak jacket" wrapped around them for the same reason. This is especially significant when you realize that in a front-engine dragster, the transmission is between the driver's legs . . .

IIRC, many of the manual-transmission racers choose to run a tranny blanket as well.

In my friend's case, IIRC the engine burst right after the second-third shift . . . they think it started when the crank snout snapped off and threw the engine out of balance. After that, at 10-12,000 rpm in a Chevy smallblock, things proceeded explosively, and the intake manifold hit him in the face.


BTW, molotov cocktails burst when they hit something hard enough to break . . . but if you're not careful, they can explode when lit. (Don't ask.) This is why the better techniques use auto-ignition methods so they don't ignite until they break.


And I'd say Jacqui's remark is ideologically driven.

--FreeFlier
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by Atomic »

lake_wrangler wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:50 pm That's Jaquline? That's quite the design change, from the earlier strips...

I did not recognize her. I only found out who it was, based on the tags below the comic...
Indeed! PW had changed his face model from an under-nose shadow form to a profile nose form. That and some eye changes make for a very different face!
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by Sgt. Howard »

FreeFlier wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 11:46 pm
BTW, Molotov cocktails burst when they hit something hard enough to break . . . but if you're not careful, they can explode when lit. (Don't ask.) This is why the better techniques use auto-ignition methods so they don't ignite until they break.

--FreeFlier
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PS- avoid using straight gasoline if you can- if you can find bottles rags and gasoline, there's a good chance you can find Styrofoam. Dissolve Styrofoam into 1/2 bottle until it will no longer dissolve- then fill with gasoline the rest of the way. Less likely to slop, will stick to the target and burns much longer
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AnotherFairportfan
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

Sgt. Howard wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:12 am
FreeFlier wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 11:46 pm
BTW, Molotov cocktails burst when they hit something hard enough to break . . . but if you're not careful, they can explode when lit. (Don't ask.) This is why the better techniques use auto-ignition methods so they don't ignite until they break.

--FreeFlier
If you leave any ullage (airspace) in the bottle, the results are predictable: oxygen + gasoline vapors = KABOOM! This information courtesy of your federal tax dollars.
Depends on how much airspace - in a closed container with limited air space, gasoline fumes will be too rich to form an explosive mixture.

Gasoline-powered vehicle fuel tanks have too rich a mixture; diesel-fuel tanks have too lean a mixture.

Back in the early days of diesel-powered US cars, some mechanics recommended adding a gallon or two of gas every so many fillups - it was supposed keep the injectors clean.

What it could do - i never heard of it happening, but a GM engineer reacted VERY negatively to the idea when one of the car magazines asked him if it was a good idea: He said that, if you hit just the right proportions of gasoline-to-diesel, you could generate an explosive mixture in the tank...
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by Opus the Poet »

Pablo sounds like he has been reading my blog, cars are WMD and newer models are demonstrably worse than previous models. The numerous instances of trucks and SUVs being used for mass murder of people outside in sidewalk cafes and just walking on sidewalks just highlights this. My personal experience 20 years ago was bad enough, but now these vehicles are being used to kill dozens in a single incident.

A modern SUV at highway speed (60 MPH) has more kinetic energy than a 155mm howitzer or 6"/50 Naval Rifle (basically the same gun in different uniforms) because of the huge mass of the projectile combined with speed. Also the width of the vehicle makes hitting the small human target pretty much a guaranteed hit when the bullet is several times larger than the target.

I have been studying this subject since the mid-2000s, and there is a lot of literature on the subject. :ugeek:
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by ziggy78eog »

I think Castela might need help from a professional counselor, and not just some peer advice, from a well intentioned friend. It is one thing to talk about that awkward transitional phase, know as puberty, and another to deal to try and work out the emotional trauma that Cass is going through, right now.
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

ziggy78eog wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:52 am I think Castela might need help from a professional counselor, and not just some peer advice, from a well intentioned friend. It is one thing to talk about that awkward transitional phase, know as puberty, and another to deal to try and work out the emotional trauma that Cass is going through, right now.
Go to the Library, call up the virtual version of Atsali's mother, and talk to her.
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by lake_wrangler »

AnotherFairportfan wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:30 pm
ziggy78eog wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:52 am I think Castela might need help from a professional counselor, and not just some peer advice, from a well intentioned friend. It is one thing to talk about that awkward transitional phase, know as puberty, and another to deal to try and work out the emotional trauma that Cass is going through, right now.
Go to the Library, call up the virtual version of Atsali's mother, and talk to her.
Based on the timestamp of your post (i.e. Wed. March 24, not Thur. March 25), you, sir, win the crystal ball award! :mrgreen:
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AnotherFairportfan
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

lake_wrangler wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:11 pm
AnotherFairportfan wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:30 pm
ziggy78eog wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:52 am I think Castela might need help from a professional counselor, and not just some peer advice, from a well intentioned friend. It is one thing to talk about that awkward transitional phase, know as puberty, and another to deal to try and work out the emotional trauma that Cass is going through, right now.
Go to the Library, call up the virtual version of Atsali's mother, and talk to her.
Based on the timestamp of your post (i.e. Wed. March 24, not Thur. March 25), you, sir, win the crystal ball award! :mrgreen:
Well, it just made sense.
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by Warrl »

AnotherFairportfan wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:23 pmHollywood has convinced most of the population that any car that catches fire will immediately explode in a huge fireball.
I can't even count the number of times I've seen cars (in movies and TV shows) go off a cliff and, for no apparent reason, explode in midair...
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by Dave »

Warrl wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:10 am I can't even count the number of times I've seen cars (in movies and TV shows) go off a cliff and, for no apparent reason, explode in midair...
With all the AI-type electronic logic being built into them, this is really to be expected. The car "brains" know they're about to crash messily, they're afraid of the pain, and so they initiate suicide while still in mid-air so they'll be dead before they hit the ground.
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by Opus the Poet »

Warrl wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:10 am
AnotherFairportfan wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:23 pmHollywood has convinced most of the population that any car that catches fire will immediately explode in a huge fireball.
I can't even count the number of times I've seen cars (in movies and TV shows) go off a cliff and, for no apparent reason, explode in midair...
Cars are sentient and can commit suicide rather than suffer a painful and prolonged death. :ugeek: :twisted:
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by FreeFlier »

And a bomb/explosive blast gives a white or yellow flash accompanied by a cloud of black smoke/dust/dirt, not a rolling fireball.

The movie fireball is the result of the bags of gasoline the special-effects man packs onto a small charge.

--FreeFlier
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

FreeFlier wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 9:26 pm And a bomb/explosive blast gives a white or yellow flash accompanied by a cloud of black smoke/dust/dirt, not a rolling fireball.

The movie fireball is the result of the bags of gasoline the special-effects man packs onto a small charge.

--FreeFlier
At one time, as i said, the standard charge for an auto demolition effect was a quarter stick of dynamite, ten pounds of cat litter and a gallon of rubber cement/liquid rubber {for those pretty streamers trailing black smoke}.

I may be wrong on how much kitty litter...
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Re: Ask Me Again 2021-03-24

Post by Dave »

AnotherFairportfan wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 11:25 pm
At one time, as i said, the standard charge for an auto demolition effect was a quarter stick of dynamite, ten pounds of cat litter and a gallon of rubber cement/liquid rubber {for those pretty streamers trailing black smoke}.

I may be wrong on how much kitty litter...
It depends on the size of the kitty. If a special-effects company uses Bengal tigers, for example, they'll use more kitty litter, to make sure that the flying cat excrement doesn't overwhelm the other parts of the explosion.
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