Here's a couple of foamies we're working on lately. Getting in on the Yak-55m craze is a lot of fun! A few more tweaks and the 36" and 42" Yak-55ms will be ready for some CAD time. The 42" version is big enough to loft a 2-1/2oz smoke bomb with servo to electrically set it off in flight hehehehe. I love ths smell of sulphur in the morning. An HD cam is in the mail so we should have some much better quality video than my crappy old cam. Blake flew the 42"er over Lake Eola in downtown Orlando last week and by the fourth flight had a few hundred people gathered around gawking and cheering LOL. Have to shoot some more vid there next weekend and see if we can get arrested for violating park rules with pyrotechnics. Here's a few pics of the protos and a freestyle vid of the 36"er:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHhMgcSrtL8

Love the video man! I wish my extra foamy was going.

More to come. The 42" Yak indoors is a riot. Climbing flat spins with the motor noise echoing off the walls was the funniest. Here' a pic of the hall:

The Yaks look great!! What motor are you using on the 42incher?

I'm getting ready to build one up for night flying, and I'm thinking that 40-43" is the right size for the lot I fly at.

On another note.. I about didn't recognize ol' Blake now that the Amry got ahold of him!!

42"er is using a Scorpion 2215-18T/11 x 7DD GWS prop. It's a ballistic setup. Will drag a 3oz smoke bomb/arming servo/holder around with power to spare. AUW wo/smoke junk is about 19.5oz. I've got to transfer some vid of it indoors at a rec center-too funny! Poor airframe-Scorpion hauls it around like a scaulded cat. Does climbing inverted flat spin no problem. I had the same idea for a night flyer-either that or a Nite Vizion 42"er.

Blake is due in Basic after X-mas. He's been training for the past 6 mos. or so. Give him a lot of credit-he's dropped about 85lbs. He came in the hobby shop the other day and no one recognized him!

Originally Posted by NumbSkull

The Yaks look great!! What motor are you using on the 42incher?

I'm getting ready to build one up for night flying, and I'm thinking that 40-43" is the right size for the lot I fly at.

On another note.. I about didn't recognize ol' Blake now that the Amry got ahold of him!!

I was gonna mention that. Where's Blake? Looing good. Flying and otherwise. Hope to see yall at SEFF.

Not sure whether I'm going to make it this year or not. Made the mistake of telling everyone at Graves what a great event SEFF was-now everyone else wants to go this year leaving me holding the fort-Doooh! Sure don't want to miss it but being the low man on the totem pole-I get the short end of the stick, dangit. Me and my big mouth-should of said what a crappy event, don't go!
After Blake gets out of Basic and AIT, then he'll find out where he'll be stationed first and then I'll have to crate and ship a bunch of stuff up for him. Guaranteed there will be a bunch of test planes ready for him when he comes home on leave though. Poor planes, it'll be like dangling a steak in front of a starving pit bull!

Man..those things are too purty to fly man!

Great job and great Flying!!

No way Birde! Made to thrash dude hahahaha. Just trying to give him a little "Golden Knights" simple scheme on the 42". I told him to try and convince the Army PR dept. to sponsor him with a Krill Yak-55m 37%er in the Golden Knights scheme(lots of smoke of course) and do flight demos with the parachute team-KOOOLLLL! Lots of yellow smoke-sweet...

Originally Posted by 3Deranged

42"er is using a Scorpion 2215-18T/11 x 7DD GWS prop. It's a ballistic setup. Will drag a 3oz smoke bomb/arming servo/holder around with power to spare. AUW wo/smoke junk is about 19.5oz.

were can I get a smoke kit, with a arming servo???? I've been looking for somthing like that.
I'm rebuilding my 47" edge, and I'm shooting for 700+Watts so the extra weight won't be a problem.

I went and bought some rocket fuses from the hobbyshop and smoke bombs from a local firework store. I used a spare 7 gram servo with a screw in the arm that was attached to a servo extnsion plugged into the reciever. When the servo forces the screw with the wire wrapped around it (from the reciever) to touch the wire connected to the fuse and makes contact with one another. It completes the circiut thus igniting the fuse on the bomb and then boom...lol..Very simple.

Here's a good vid if you to try making your own. Much more dense smoke and you can color them with your favorite color. Thinking about using reusable rocket motor casing and instead of propellent, using homeade smoke cartridges instead. Then you'd be able to get more duration too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuKN7dXIeR0

DONT LISTEN TO THAT VIDEO IT IS FAKED! i am an avid pyrotechnic and i can assure this doesn't make coloured smoke. If you miss out the coloured dye you will get white smoke. I can tell you why this won't work later if you really want me to but i haven't got the time to type it now. You also need a good quality batch of KNO3

Really a BS video then? See lots of other "how to make your own smoke bomb" vids-any real ones? I've made plenty of my own rocket motors before, just never any smoke bombs. Like to use a reusable casing if possible. I've got a local pyro engineer who's given me some goodies, have to ask him about smoke. Thanks for the heads up.

Yeh, the video he shows at the end uses a different inner, thats why he wrapps it all up so you can't actually see what is in it. The kno3 and sugar method works well though. Here is an example of a 150g one i made when i was a fair bit younger.

150g smoke bomb cake let off (KNO3 and Sugar) (0 min 55 sec)

I suggest using copper piping for a casing as this reaction gets so hot only metal can really withstand the heat. PyroDirect do a coloured smoke mix you could use. The only problem with copper piping is that if there is a cato (the pyro's word for explosion) then there will be deadly shrapnel flying about. There are a few methods for making it, one using water and disolving, one just heating and so many different ratio's. the best ive found is 60:40 KNO3:Sugar. try to use icing sugar as it caramelises easier. It is pretty dangerous to make so i suggest doing it over a camping stove outside. I have had stories of the mixture igniting while cooking inside, causing them to need a new house! There is anothing method for making them involving instant cool packs and news paper. You can make a lot and they give a good spread of smoke. Also pretty cold burning and light weight. The only issue is no colouring and the smoke is toxic.
A how-to!

HOW TO MAKE A NEWPAPER SMOKE BOMB!!! easy (6 min 8 sec)

A good demo of the effectiveness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAaZYa0M1Fs


Edit: Just found a better video how to video

How to Make: Newspaper Smoke Bombs (2 min 30 sec)