Peter does it again

[pictsidhe]

Same here. I grew up in a time and place where normal teenage boys would be building match head rockets and pipe bombs, with no intent more nefarious than setting them off in an old sandpit just to see how big a bang it would make. And yeah, I built a flamethrower once, too. I bet many of the Apollo engineers had a similar background to mine.

I built those before I was a teenager. It was greatly frowned upon, normal kids stared at the TV

 

[Victor Bravo]

Jeez what a bunch of destructive boys you guys were!

All I did was pour model rocket engine powder into a tissue pouch and light it to watch the flash and a big poof of smoke. I must have been quite the under-achiever in the explosives department!

 

[Hot Wings]

All I did was pour model rocket engine powder into a tissue pouch and light it to watch the flash and a big poof of smoke. I must have been quite the under-achiever in the explosives department!

I made my own rocket motors because Estes didn't make anything larger than a D at the time. Had a core fracture during a test of one at my brother's house*. Neighbors thought his propane barbecue had blown up.

But don't worry about your lack of experience you still have time to catch up. This book is as much of a necessity as is TOWS or Perkins and Hage
Chemistry of Powder and Explosives.

Just to tie this all into HBA - how about thread to make some home made RATO units?





* My neighbors were already a little skitish about loud noises and smoke.

 

[Hephaestus]

boys and fire.

I built a pulse jet... First time it actually fired and self sustained I learned a lot...

The whole backyard was on fire, how to hover cuz your butt was black and blue and you can't sit for weeks on end. Don't tell anyone who asks why you can't sit because they'll make you sit... Then there was a lot of sanding and painting of fences... Digging up some fuel soaked rhubarb and raspberries and lawn...

Pretty sure there was a lesson in there about how much available fuel should be available to a motor on a test stand... A full pint can - is way too much fyi.

Oh and finishing nails won't hold down a pulse jet mounted to chipboard on a workbench

 

[BJC]

Fights with Cherry Bombs and M-80’s (which were easier to throw), pipe bombs, homemade rockets, running from the police and state patrol, racing on the street, driving cars and boats at a young age, ... Times have changed; Johnny Law no longer has a sense of humor. Kids today get thrown in jail with serious and costly charges for doing some of the things that we did.


BJC

 

[ScaleBirdsScott]

That discussion would start getting into the political to really even begin to dissect why the modern police are not longer simply amused by.... name a thing. But even in my 30's can't imagine my potential kids doing half of what I did growing up in the 90's, and worst we did was fire bottle rockets at eachother through some scrap PVC pipe. Grew up largely being warned to respect the peace and kept our mischief to shooting pellet guns in the deep woods and throwing rocks at kids from the neighborhood who ventured near our forts.

Anyway regardless of who or what anyone here wants to see, I think it's super dope that Peter is experimenting in his way and making stuff, and has a cool space to work in, with friends to help make it happen, and an audience to witness it. Can't blame him for having fun where he's at and not getting too serious too quick. I jumped way into the serious end from the outset and spent the last 8 or so years chasing a hard goal, probably should take a lesson or two from the internet.

 

[SuperSpinach]

Hello ,

I just wanted to say that Peter as been sort of an inspiration for me. Or at least his videos sparked the interest for me to learn how to build A/C.
When I was a bit younger I had the intent to build and even design an airplane but couldn't figure where to start, what to learn.
Then I somehow found his videos and followed along the 3rd design and I realized one thing :
If this guy with limited knowledge and materials can build a UL, surely I can build one too.

I then started doing research and didn't find much until I found this forum. I'm currently reading the books recommanded in one of the thread and I'm learning a lot thanks to you guys and all these great books.

I now realize that his planes are a bit (too) simple and perhaps limited in their capabilities but at least for me it has started a long process of learning.

Sure the guy makes profit with videos that are directed more towards entertainment than engineering but it gets people involved in aviation.
I think we should see the positives in his actions instead of the negatives. It brings a wind of fresh ideas in a field that tends to be limited by physics and constant search for efficiency.

 

[Victor Bravo]

WELCOME Super Spinach ! What type of flying do you plan on doing?

We are all very happy you found this forum, and you will find a lot of very qualified help here. Yes, I have to admit we're a bunch of strangers who will offer a boatload of advice and try to "steer" you toward certain decisions or conservative thinking. But when you are high enough above the ground to actually get hurt, the help we can offer is pretty important and it will prevent you from getting hurt.

If you tell us what kinds of flying you want to do, and what kinds of materials you might prefer to work with, we can provide some very good, safe, and goodquality advice on how and where to start.

But what you learned from Peter's videos is 100% correct - if he can build something that flies, the so can you.

 

[SuperSpinach]

Hello VB,

Right now I'm getting my PPL so I'm flying in "regular" aircraft.
I completely agree about safety and that's why I'm doing my research before even trying to build an airplane.

Ideally I would like to work on canard aircraft but that would be a lot of work for a first build. So perhaps I'll build an ultralight for simplicity sake and ease of build. Also, It will really depend on the money I have and time that I can put in the build.
When it comes to material, I'm pretty good with metal work (since that's what I learned to work with), I don't know much about wood nor composite materials although I have basic knowledge about the latter.

Until then I'll keep learning from reading (I found some free PDF versions of the books recommanded on the forum).

 

[Hot Wings]

Oh and finishing nails won't hold down a pulse jet mounted to chipboard on a workbench

It's all amusing now. That visual reminds me of some of the other things I've done that ended in a similar manner!

 

[Hot Wings]

WELCOME Super Spinach !

Ditto!
And SS is a real world example of the good things that can come for this Peters YT videos.

 

[Speedboat100]

I made my own rocket motors because Estes didn't make anything larger than a D at the time. Had a core fracture during a test of one at my brother's house*. Neighbors thought his propane barbecue had blown up.

But don't worry about your lack of experience you still have time to catch up. This book is as much of a necessity as is TOWS or Perkins and Hage
Chemistry of Powder and Explosives.

Just to tie this all into HBA - how about thread to make some home made RATO units?





* My neighbors were already a little skitish about loud noises and smoke.

Rocket racing ?

 

[robertl]

I don't think his goals are quite that noble. He's a professional youtube content provider, he's just as likely to put out videos about making homemade flame throwers that look like giant bbq lighters. I sure hope he's not inspiring young viewers to think "wow, people can actually DO such things".

I don't see him as a brave young aviation visionary. I see him as a grown man grasping at ideas for new content so he can keep his youtube job. ...some of those ideas are good, some of them are bad.

Flame thrower! Wow, I'm in !!!

 

[robertl]

Being on a farm, I got to play with dynamite. I have a chapter in my book I have been writing for several years about playing with dynamite when I was 12 years old. Ever go dynamite or carbide fishing ?

I have called fish up on the telephone before !

 

[Little Scrapper]

A few have mentioned him making money on YouTube. To make a decent living it takes a lot more views to do that. Monetizing YouTube is increasingly difficult as time passes. A million views use to be a big deal when it comes to income but it just isn’t anymore. A million views a week/month vs a million views over 6 month period or a year is a big difference.

Anyhow, in a time where kids don’t even want to work it’s inspiring to see him put forward a great effort.

I am a little nervous though. Anytime you’re in the air there’s a pretty heavy risk associated with it. I hope his audience is aware of safety because sometimes clever editing gives the appearance that it’s a easy thing to do and everyone ends up fine no matter what they do. Just gotta be careful is all I’m saying.

I hope he succeeds wisely because aviation needs enthusiastic people.

 

[PMD]

It's also nice to drive that point home that a homebuilt aircraft doesn't need to be a 1-2 decade project

We seem to have fallen into that rut where it literally is a lifelong project lately.

Dude, when you are 70 years old with a 48 year old pilot's license...ANY project might well be life long!!!

Haven't seen the videos, but ANYTHING that gets people talking, thinking and especially DOING something in aviation is a good thing.

 

[Hephaestus]

It's all amusing now. That visual reminds me of some of the other things I've done that ended in a similar manner!

It's funny how many of us have these stories.

Then again, some of my adult screw ups rival my kid ones

At least getting my arse beaten doesn't happen as much and there's alcohol now

 

[NOLA]

First post, long time lurker.
My aviation time line.

Obsessed with aviation as a 5-10 year old. Lose interest for 20 years. randomly click on Peter Sripol a few years ago, then FliteTest, Trent Palmer, Mike Patey, Down the inevitable rabbit hole and that obsession I had as a kid is irreversibly switched back on...
So I hope he keeps doing what he’s doing.

 

[Pops]

Obsessed with aviation as a 5 year old at 5 years old. Obsessed with aviation as a 5 year old at 80 years old in August .
Told my future wife that if it comes to airplanes or you, airplanes will win. Will be married 60 years July 29th. She loves flying. I'm a winner. Can't get any better than that.

 

[Little Scrapper]

Obsessed with aviation as a 5 year old at 5 years old. Obsessed with aviation as a 5 year old at 80 years old in August .
Told my future wife that if it comes to airplanes or you, airplanes will win. Will be married 60 years July 29th. She loves flying. I'm a winner. Can't get any better than that.

What day in August? We’re celebrating! Many of my favorite people have birthdays in August. There’s gotta be a science behind this.