I WAS NEVER THERE DOT COM
Forward Operating Base - Halifax
I hear ya man, I really do. You do need to speak loud - you're making two copies.
FOB Halifax is the current home-base of all sorts of fun and games.
Build it, computer it, fly it, drive it or sink it ….. most of it came from here.
Tech toys, terra-bytes, fiber-op, networks, SAN, NAS, laser-keyboards, tablets and many more toys.
Planes, RC, free flight, scratch concept, short range and long range, RPV and drones, models
and full size, sport aviation, and open-cockpit barnstorming.
Radio waves, short-wave, VHF, HAM, around the world or around the corner. Fun with LPU and burst transmitters.
Connect anything to everything and everything to anything.
Can you link these: Palmdale, Pepe Le Pew, and China Lake together?
I WAS NEVER THERE DOT COM WARNING: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME OR ANYWHERE ELSE ! ! !
The story kind of goes like this
The quest was to light the BBQ for the annual get together of like-minded
techno-geeks as fast as possible. Ingredients were to include a standard BBQ,
charcoals, and some form of ignition. The BBQ and the charcoal bricks were to be
the traditional store bought types you could find at any Lowes any sunny Saturday afternoon.
So nothing special (and nothing you would need to take home afterwards).
First Attempt
Lab grade methyl-alcohol, liquid nitrogen, and (for smoke effects)
a selection for synthetic castor oils. Take BBQ, add two 10 pound bags of
charcoal bricks and combine together on a very strong concrete deck. Add 1
gallon of 90/2/8 for the above chemicals. Note that the flash point of this
mixture is about 100 degrees but the evaporation point is only about 97 degrees.
DO THE MATH (This makes a nice Fuel/Air explosion in the making). Next step is ignition
from a safe distance. Note to self: In hind sight I would suggested that this distance might be
at least one state away, amd more if possible. The result: 1 missing BBQ grill (aka NASA Low Earth Orbiting
Catalog Item 127) AND 20 pounds of flaming BBQ bricks raining down over about an acre of wwoodlands (now called
a wetland) and a never to be seen again BBQ. Sorry USCG and Boston ATC and NORAD and NASA but
I WAS NEVER THERE!
Second Attempt
BBQ on a slab, another two 10 pound bags of bricks, and this time
the addition of a 12 foot long 2 by 4 and a 1 gallon steel bucket. The
accelerant this time would be a half gallon of LOX (Liquid Oxygen aka NASA
Rocket Fuel for the X-Type rockets). Ignition would be by a remote arc-welder's
spark generator. The result this time was better but not as expected. When the LOX
ignited it sounded like a 747 taking off, with you strapped to the tail. The flame was
a rather nice magnesium white hot blast and the heat was hot enough to melt the hair off the
observers eyebrows from 75 feet away. Impressive but the final results was lacking: Nice hot
charcoals ready to cook but they were sitting in a pool of molten BBQ metals. Oh yes, that last 4
feet and bucket were missing off the 2 by 4 – these two would never be seen again either.
I WAS NEVER THERE
Third and Final Attempt
This time a large strong plate
steel BBQ was selected. 40 pounds
of charcoal bricks were readied. The
engineer in charge of this one spent an
entire morning locating the BBQ on the rocky
beach at the end of the Point. When everything
was ready he invited all the other teams out for
his lighting. As he studied his watch and adjusted the
unlit BBQ in its place, he kept checking his watch. There
was no fire-starter in sight. At exactly 1700 he had everyone
step back from the BBQ. He announced: “Now is the time for the
SDI BBQ Lighter”. Everyone wandered at the true meaning of his words.
At 17:01 the smell of burning wood and smoke came from the forest behind
us. A blinding white beam from somewhere in the sky
shone down and passed right down the beach cutting the
BBQ into 2 equal pieces. Zeus would have been proud. The
charcoal bricks burst into flames and the two halves of the
BBQ remained upright. The engineer stepped up to the BBQ and
announced: Meat Lovers on the Right and Veggie Lovers on the Left.
Hot Dog - We have a winner.
Note to self: Never piss off an SDI (aka Star Wars) Weapons Designer.
But how could I have known – because
I WAS NEVER THERE
BTW - I'm not allowed to go back there ever again either.
Go Home
Lab grade methyl-alcohol, liquid nitrogen, and (for smoke effects)
a selection for synthetic castor oils. Take BBQ, add two 10 pound bags of
charcoal bricks and combine together on a very strong concrete deck. Add 1
gallon of 90/2/8 for the above chemicals. Note that the flash point of this
mixture is about 100 degrees but the evaporation point is only about 97 degrees.
DO THE MATH (This makes a nice Fuel/Air explosion in the making). Next step is ignition
from a safe distance. Note to self: In hind sight I would suggested that this distance might be
at least one state away, amd more if possible. The result: 1 missing BBQ grill (aka NASA Low Earth Orbiting
Catalog Item 127) AND 20 pounds of flaming BBQ bricks raining down over about an acre of wwoodlands (now called
a wetland) and a never to be seen again BBQ. Sorry USCG and Boston ATC and NORAD and NASA but
I WAS NEVER THERE!
Second Attempt
BBQ on a slab, another two 10 pound bags of bricks, and this time
the addition of a 12 foot long 2 by 4 and a 1 gallon steel bucket. The
accelerant this time would be a half gallon of LOX (Liquid Oxygen aka NASA
Rocket Fuel for the X-Type rockets). Ignition would be by a remote arc-welder's
spark generator. The result this time was better but not as expected. When the LOX
ignited it sounded like a 747 taking off, with you strapped to the tail. The flame was
a rather nice magnesium white hot blast and the heat was hot enough to melt the hair off the
observers eyebrows from 75 feet away. Impressive but the final results was lacking: Nice hot
charcoals ready to cook but they were sitting in a pool of molten BBQ metals. Oh yes, that last 4
feet and bucket were missing off the 2 by 4 – these two would never be seen again either.
I WAS NEVER THERE
Third and Final Attempt
This time a large strong plate
steel BBQ was selected. 40 pounds
of charcoal bricks were readied. The
engineer in charge of this one spent an
entire morning locating the BBQ on the rocky
beach at the end of the Point. When everything
was ready he invited all the other teams out for
his lighting. As he studied his watch and adjusted the
unlit BBQ in its place, he kept checking his watch. There
was no fire-starter in sight. At exactly 1700 he had everyone
step back from the BBQ. He announced: “Now is the time for the
SDI BBQ Lighter”. Everyone wandered at the true meaning of his words.
At 17:01 the smell of burning wood and smoke came from the forest behind
us. A blinding white beam from somewhere in the sky
shone down and passed right down the beach cutting the
BBQ into 2 equal pieces. Zeus would have been proud. The
charcoal bricks burst into flames and the two halves of the
BBQ remained upright. The engineer stepped up to the BBQ and
announced: Meat Lovers on the Right and Veggie Lovers on the Left.
Hot Dog - We have a winner.
Note to self: Never piss off an SDI (aka Star Wars) Weapons Designer.
But how could I have known – because
I WAS NEVER THERE
BTW - I'm not allowed to go back there ever again either.
Go Home
This time a large strong plate
steel BBQ was selected. 40 pounds
of charcoal bricks were readied. The
engineer in charge of this one spent an
entire morning locating the BBQ on the rocky
beach at the end of the Point. When everything
was ready he invited all the other teams out for
his lighting. As he studied his watch and adjusted the
unlit BBQ in its place, he kept checking his watch. There
was no fire-starter in sight. At exactly 1700 he had everyone
step back from the BBQ. He announced: “Now is the time for the
SDI BBQ Lighter”. Everyone wandered at the true meaning of his words.
At 17:01 the smell of burning wood and smoke came from the forest behind
us. A blinding white beam from somewhere in the sky
shone down and passed right down the beach cutting the
BBQ into 2 equal pieces. Zeus would have been proud. The
charcoal bricks burst into flames and the two halves of the
BBQ remained upright. The engineer stepped up to the BBQ and
announced: Meat Lovers on the Right and Veggie Lovers on the Left.
Hot Dog - We have a winner.
Note to self: Never piss off an SDI (aka Star Wars) Weapons Designer.
But how could I have known – because
I WAS NEVER THERE
BTW - I'm not allowed to go back there ever again either.