jimzcatz
Boss, Carolina Rocket Mafia
YepUnpacking one of my boxes in the rocketbarn, I came across this....
View attachment 537283
Does anyone else remember Al's? I think Tim (Wildman) worked there at some point.
YepUnpacking one of my boxes in the rocketbarn, I came across this....
View attachment 537283
Does anyone else remember Al's? I think Tim (Wildman) worked there at some point.
Will they ever get used again?
yes sirUnpacking one of my boxes in the rocketbarn, I came across this....
View attachment 537283
Does anyone else remember Al's? I think Tim (Wildman) worked there at some point.
I used to use flashbulbs to light clusters of black powder motors all the time, until Thermalite became impossible to find. I also used the pre wired flashbulbs that came with an aluminum tube that you would add black powder to, to make ejection charges. Luckily I always used doubly redundant ejection charges, because I found out that the flashbulbs would sometimes fail under acceleration on rockets with fast burning motors. At that point I started using electric matches to ignite the ejection charges.
Someone probably will for their own purposes (nostalgia? Ignorance?), but there’s no good reason for them to be used by many fliers.Will they ever get used again?
I used to work in the OS engine warranty department years ago and did OS warranty and non warranty work for Al's from time to time. Never been to the hobby shop.Unpacking one of my boxes in the rocketbarn, I came across this....
View attachment 537283
Does anyone else remember Al's? I think Tim (Wildman) worked there at some point.
It was a nice suburban shop. Not massive but mostly catered of course to the R/C flier. I'd go there every now and then but it was easier to get to Scott Godron's innocuous Glen Ellyn Toy & Card shop. Not very far from Wheaton, Illinois. Sold all sorts of stuff besides gift cards. Did a bunch of hobby things which I guess was part of the "Toy" name. In the back of the shop, carried Estes kits and motors. Mr. Godron sponsored the Glen Ellyn Rocketry Club back in the day in the 60's of which I was a member and an earlier member of NAR. Got the NAR number #11583. Later I'm told the club became NIRA. Though I think Mr. Godron might have been retired/dead by then. He was "old as the hills" when I was a kid.I used to work in the OS engine warranty department years ago and did OS warranty and non warranty work for Al's from time to time. Never been to the hobby shop.
I have a good number of these as well, just as in your photo, and also a LOT of individual flashbulbs. They were essentially the best technology in the 90s for cluster ignition. They also did well for single motor ignition. I'll also keep them in memory of Bob.I still have a box of loadable ejection charges, flashbulbs that I got off of Robby's Rockets back in the 90's? I think that he drove an older white dodge van back then to the launches. I don't use them anymore, just kinda of a keep sake. View attachment 537321
Man O.T.T. I forgot about Christmas tree bulbs! Holee shoot! Trying to break the glass to get at the filament was not for me! Besides, the filament could be dorked by acceleration. I remember reading a blurb about using them for deployments but thought that would a a roll of the dice! Agree Ematches are way so much better now.I have a packet of AG-1 bulbs sitting in a drawer. That is where they will stay. Ematches are so much better. Christmas tree bulbs and flashbulbs are historical items for me now.
I used to sand the end of the bulb with a belt sander till I got a hole in it. You also had to be careful as some had a shorting link that shorted the bulb out if the filament broke.Man O.T.T. I forgot about Christmas tree bulbs! Holee shoot! Trying to break the glass to get at the filament was not for me! Besides, the filament could be dorked by acceleration. I remember reading a blurb about using them for deployments but thought that would a a roll of the dice! Agree Ematches are way so much better now.
Kurt
I used Xmas bulbs for deployment for a while. I would break the bulbs and then use a tweezers to pull the shorting link out. That was usually two or three wraps of wire around the base of the filament holding wires. I then ohmed each one and throw out the ones with open filaments, about 25%. I then rolled heavy paper round two bulbs to make the powder tube and hot glued the bulbs in one end. Ohmed them out again and threw away any where both bulbs didn't have the filaments working. From there I soldered on a wires to put the bulbs in parallel. When I added powder, I folded the paper tube down and taped it. I always Ohmed it again just before connecting to the HiAlt45.I used to sand the end of the bulb with a belt sander till I got a hole in it. You also had to be careful as some had a shorting link that shorted the bulb out if the filament broke.
I also used grain-of-wheat bulbs for a short time. Easier than Xmas tree lamps.
Isn't the diameter too big to go inside a motor?I still use them on BP clusters.
Ahhh, learned something new today, thanks.1" masking tape around bottom of the motor, I pour 4f bp into the nozzle and pinch tape around flashbulbs. Works every time.
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