Skidmark’s

[SCOTT EVANS]

I personally like skidmarks and smokeys.

They dont do any thing for me. 😕

“Skidmarks always sounds like somthing that happens at the toilet, when your intestines are not working quite right” ! 😉

Yes I know, its lower than the gutter. Its in the sewer. 🙂

Hey…. I just figured out where the name comes from! 😀

[Jeffrey Joe HintonModerator]

Whole nother meaning to fire in the hole.

[Warren B. MusselmanModerator]

Don’t get me wrong, I like Skidmarks, I just don’t like them where we fly for the aforementioned reasons of fire danger. Unless the ground is snow covered or it is actively raining, I just don’t trust them. I have a couple skids in my magazine – they’ve been sitting there since Jim Amos sold out all his AMW stock. Got a great deal, just need to go somewhere appropriate to fly them.

As for smokey motors, I just don’t like breathing AP smoke, no matter what the composition of the smoke additive. ALL AP propellant exhaust forms hydrochloric acid on contact with moisture – in particular mucous membranes like the lining of your lungs, your nose, your mouth, etc… The more of it there is, the less I like breathing it. More immediately dangerous is the loss of clear line of sight to the bird while under boost when the smoke plume drifts over the LCO table and the flight line. I have some smokey motors (CTI Smokey Sams and AT Black Jacks plus the aforementioned Skidmarks). I only fly them when the wind is from the West at the North Site.

As said, to each their own.

W

[greywolves]

2 points-Scott

almost shot orange juice out my nose, haha

[muleParticipant]

2 points-Scott

almost shot orange juice out my nose, haha

Scott’s always good for that.

I suspect the only good spot around here is the Atlas site on a calm day so the sparks stay around the concrete. Other than that, I personally wouldn’t fly one anywhere up here. South maybe….
Are we all just bored?

[John A. WilkeParticipant]

mule wrote:

I suspect the only good spot around here is the Atlas site on a calm day so the sparks stay around the concrete.

NO WAY on the Atlas site – the spark plume would easily exceed the footprint of the concrete (that stuff rains down for a LONG time and the “cone” of sparks is quite large). If we did have a fire, we have fences to contend with. Access is tougher for fire crews and us if we have to get very far very quick out there…

Unfortunately, I had the previous worse fire in club history – back when we were PHITS. The fire was at the Atlas site. It was dicey. That one was in March, which is also not thought of as a high-risk month for fires.

I’ll miss the Skids – the only one I ever flew was when they were EX loads years ago – but I always enjoyed seeing AND hearing them 😀 to me, they sound like a giant sheet of cloth being ripped.

[Bruce R. Schaefer]

Good analogy! That’s EXACTLY what they sound like! I have a sparky from Tim. Right place and time.

[Chris LaPanse]

Don’t get me wrong, I like Skidmarks, I just don’t like them where we fly for the aforementioned reasons of fire danger. Unless the ground is snow covered or it is actively raining, I just don’t trust them. I have a couple skids in my magazine – they’ve been sitting there since Jim Amos sold out all his AMW stock. Got a great deal, just need to go somewhere appropriate to fly them.

As for smokey motors, I just don’t like breathing AP smoke, no matter what the composition of the smoke additive. ALL AP propellant exhaust forms hydrochloric acid on contact with moisture – in particular mucous membranes like the lining of your lungs, your nose, your mouth, etc… The more of it there is, the less I like breathing it. More immediately dangerous is the loss of clear line of sight to the bird while under boost when the smoke plume drifts over the LCO table and the flight line. I have some smokey motors (CTI Smokey Sams and AT Black Jacks plus the aforementioned Skidmarks). I only fly them when the wind is from the West at the North Site.

As said, to each their own.

W

Although you are correct that all AP motors contain chemicals that, when combusted, produce hydrogen chloride gas, smoky motors do not have any more of them than blue thunder (for example). The only difference is whether you can see the cloud of exhaust products or whether it is invisible. Of course, there is the issue of visibility, and I can distinctly remember the massive smoke plume left by my Deuce when I flew it on the K700 white lightnings, but I wouldn’t go so far as to classify any motor with smoke a “safety hazard”.

[edwardModerator]

I guess there goes my hopes of certifying some hybrid sparkies 🙂

Edward

[Jeffrey Joe HintonModerator]

But Ed, you could still fly them with TC – that would be so cool!!!!

FWIW, unlikely that the USFS will back down on the ban of sparkies for either site in the Pawnee but there is always the possibility in the annual review process to edit/amend the permit. In the meantime, the Hudson Ranch is stll “firefly” friendly and the Salt Flats for Hellfire aren’t that far away.

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