Our plan for this year was very similar to the previous year. This was actually my birthday party, but nobody, including me, really cared about that. The real reason for the party was fireworks! We met at my house and drove up to my cabin. There we unloaded gear, fireworks and electronics. This year we went high tech and brought a TV and computer (which has a DVD and TV-out video card). We brought the computer for the DVD's, with the TV-out on the video card in the computer, we could watch DVD's on the TV. The computer was actually mainly brought because of the digital camera. We needed to put the pictures and videos (it has a video mode) onto the computer that we took in the afternoon or the memory card would be clear to hold all the night fireworks.
The Class C for the party (minus a bit that was used for powder/modifications)
Homemade stuff
More homemade stuff (gas fireball, Can o Rockets, bottle bomb)
After unloading the car and having a snack, we grabbed some stuff, including 6 cobs, the 386 bomb and a tennis ball filled with powder. The 386 itself was carried in a duffel bag. We hiked down the road a ways and up a logging road until we were quite a ways away from any of the cabins in the area. People tossed around firecrackers and shot a few bottle rockets and we got ready for the more serious stuff. Everyone had eye protection on and was a safe distance away from things when they went off. My brother made the first device we used. It was a tennis ball filled with powder from aerial shells. For some reason he even powdered the stars, so it wasn't all black powder or other similar fast burning powders. It still went off with a good bang however, as well as some crackle from a crackling shell. I think the 386 bomb was the very next thing. It was a black powder filled cob taped to 4 cans of pressurized butane (intended for re-filling lighters). It was placed in the computer with the fuse coming out an open drive bay (my brother took out the floppy drive to save) and the case was screwed on. It was the kind of case where the outer cover is in a U shape and one piece, unlike many newer ones with separate panels. We set the 386 up on a mound of dirt and tree debris for a good view and got everyone way back. We lit a sparkler and stuck it in the back of the computer in an open card slot to make sure the butane ignited, and I lit the fuse. It had a long delay, so I had plenty of time before it went off with the noise of a cob and the added bonus of a 20+-foot fireball. It was great! Below are lots of pictures from the first explosion and from the three other cobs used on it.
386 bomb
Inside computer before
386 with bomb
386 in blast area (with Nsync doll on top! We only found a leg after the explosion!)
386 blowing up (thats not me btw, its a friend)
386 after blast
The case cover was bent backwards and landed about 30 feet from the computer
The motherboard was blown out without breaking, so we put a cob on it
Motherboard after
The next cob was set off
sitting on the ISA cards, removing all of them. You can see the cards
before the blast in the first pic after the frames
The next cob was wedged in between the CD-ROM and 5 1/2" floppy drive
Cob in CD-ROM/floppy after
The second Nsync doll with a cob
Nsync doll after (all we found was a leg and shreds of smoking clothing!
Here are the pieces of the
butane cans (The yellow one had the bottom blown out, but it was not
destroyed like the other two. The fourth cannister was not found)
