77 replies to this topic

[karlfoxman]

Im off in a few mins, so i'll look forward to seeing those who are comnig very soon. Should be a very good day, if anyone has questions then ask any of us on site.

[fishy1]

So how was it? Spill the beans.

What was the safety demonstration like? I heard something about flash.

[BigG]

So how was it? Spill the beans.

What was the safety demonstration like? I heard something about flash.

Fishy - you are a bit early - the convension will only finish at 10:30pm!

[fishy1]

Fishy - you are a bit early - the convension will only finish at 10:30pm!

I had a feeling I got the wrong day, but it is today. I didn't realise it went on till 10:30, but yeah, with shoots, it would.

[BrightStar]

Just back from the convention after a 4 hour drive... in a word, brilliant!

Here's the teaser for fishy:



What could our volunteer have been mixing here? What fate did he meet

A big thank you to the UKPS team for all the hard work. I very much enjoyed the event and will certainly be back next year.

Edited by BrightStar, 01 October 2006 - 11:15 PM.

[Gavin]

Fantastic first convention and a big thanks to all the admin/mods for their hard work in making it a brilliant day. Great fun, educational and a very sobering safety demo. Can?t wait for the next one

[phildunford]

Was a brilliant day!

Many thanks go to Adam and Reggie ( and all involved ) for organising all this. I know what a lot of work is involved in such things. Also to the firing team.

When you look at the rocket guys (there were alot!) it shows you what can be done in terms of improving the image of 'a dodgy hobby' and getting dispensations from the authorities - we just need more of you to put your hands in your pockets and shell out for memberships... ?20 is not much to ask!

Looking foward to next year already!

[pymp]

My fantastic KLOB 06 Experience

I got to Southview Farm at around 11am, in the midst of a great commotion regarding the UKRA rocket bay. I investigated a little, and found out that one of their rocket motors had ignited (indoors) among several rockets. When the smoke cleared, and the chlorine smell had died away, people ventured inside to view the damage - and I gathered that there wasn't much of it to either human or structure thankfully.

I then registered with RegimentalPyro alongside Shadowpyro, and we walked up the path to where Prof.Hawking and Karlfoxman were fusing the display pieces together. After admiring their work for a while we were introduced to Richard H. We were then joined by pyromaniac303 and others and before long it was time for the fuse workshop.

This would, under normal circumstances, have been taken by BigG, however he was unfortunately unable to attend. Regimental however admirably filled his space and talked us through the various types of fusing available to the professional, which were then demonstrated to us. A very interesting talk, I think many of us learnt something - I for one didn't know they used 5-stranded quickmatch professionally.

After grabbing some food from the burger van (I had a bacon and cheeseburger, as recommended on the agenda), we proceeded to the field for AdamW's safety talk. Firstly we were given a "How many dangers can you spot in this scenario" task, and we were then shown different containers used for storing explosives- which led to us being shown how effective each one was at containing a blast from a 2"shell. Bob, our willing inanimate friend, then decided to make 500g of flashpowder out in the field, next to a hot glue gun and while having a drink. However, due to the introduction of a rain shower, Bob was saved from an untimely fate (for now), which is more than can be said for the table. You may have expected some UKRA member to have turned up, considering the accident they had earlier in the day, but only one of them attended.

We then had a rocket workshop, presented by "Rocket Man" of the UKRA. We were shown how to make a rocket for less than 10p in less than 5 minutes. Apparently a rocket such as that can survive around 10 flights, and we listened intently, as needing to salvage rockets was an entirely new concept for us. A few of us then made our own. Shadowpyro named his "Thunderbolt Thor", while I was much less imaginative, and named mine "Eric".

Next on the agenda was a tour around the fireworks display site, and Richard, Adam and Karl wowed us with their skills. (See photo album)

The star pumping workshop was next, and again RegimentalPyro took over from BigG. He managed to pump two fantastic crossette stars, which impressed us all! (again, see photo album). We practiced pumping a few standard stars of different sizes ourselves, with an inert mix - fear not!

Adamw and Regimental then showed us videos and photos of their trips to China and Valencia respectively, both of which looked fantastic. Im sure you read about them in the newsletter.

We then went back up to the field for the display, our way lit up by flares from the UKRA members. The display was fantastic, it lasted about 5 minutes or so, and as you can see from the photos on the link below, every second of it was amazing.

Here are a few photos I took, with an embarresingly loud shutter tone may I add. (Click on KLOB 06)

Finally... many thanks to everyone who organised it, it was a fantastic day!

Dave

Edited by pymp, 01 October 2006 - 01:58 PM.

[ProfHawking]

Someone likes essays! nicely done.
im a man of fewer words, but nevertheless, it was indeed a great day!
thankyou to all involved!!

[pyromaniac303]

Had a fantastic day, and although we got rained on almost everything went as planned.
Well done to everyone who organised it, and I hope BigG is feeling better.

[shadowpyro]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! The convention was aboslutly AWEsome! next year it'll be even bigger and better!
YOU all who missed it should be ashamed!....
the safety demo? hohoho! it was...how should i say surpising.
the event ended with a bang-(or 3 should i say?)

Regimental, if you send those pics to my email addy or osmething i can my parents to translate maybe?
i wonder when the videos of the display will be up for all to see.

[Richard H]

Thanks to everyone who came down to join us! A lot of organising went into it and hopefully you all enjoyed it despite the poor weather and the difficulties we had as a result of BigG being unable to make it. A huge thanks goes out to RegimentalPyro for manning the desks and to Karl, who worked like a nutter setting up the fireworks with me all day!

I was really happy with the display and Paul's maroons made some nice craters in the field No doubt we will be planning a convention for 2007, perhaps in June! I hope to see even more of you there! Needless to say, this was our first attempt at a reasonably 'large' organised event, and we all learned plenty of lessons that should improve future conventions!

Many thanks for your support, and if your not a member yet and you wish you had come, join us!

If anyone has any photos or videos to share, I would love to see them.

[shadowpyro]

We ought to put up some stalls next time, just like the rocketry people were doing. Just basic stuff like fuse or charcoal and KNO3 etc.

[pymp]

If anyone has any photos or videos to share, I would love to see them

There are a few linked to at the bottom of my last post.

[Ritual33]

I envy you guys for being able to go, I hope to make it to the next one.

Drew

P.S, Might seem like a dumb question but are the shells bought or made?

Edited by Ritual33, 01 October 2006 - 05:10 PM.