Posted on 04/21/2023 11:14:58 AM PDT by nickcarraway
It makes more sense to me that the entire helicopter gets charged, not just the cable.
Although I get a charge out of Dr. Konstantinos Giapis spark of inspiration, you NorthMountain only have a piece of the remaining puzzle.
Yes the Hindenburg was painted with a aluminum powder based paint, the surface was primed with a standard red primer, the red is from iron oxide powder.
Class, what's it called when you mix powdered aluminum and powdered iron oxide?
Anyone? Bueller?
OK ...
First off, Aluminum Powder plus lacquer is called “rocket fuel”.
Secondly, aluminum powder in intimate mixture with iron oxide powder is a form of thermite.
I’m quite sure that the dopant qualified as rocket fuel. You’ll have to do a little more work to show that the Al powder and the Fe2O3 powder were in sufficiently intimate mixture to have a thermite reaction.
I’m mildly curious as to whether you personally have ever made and used thermite. I have.
Oh, yes: I know that the Al powder plus lacquer (or rubber, or any number of other things) rocket fuel needs an oxidizer. In a solid fuel rocket, the fuel is mixed with potassium perchlorate, or something similar, to provide an oxidizer in a n otherwise sealed system. When painted in a thin layer on the surface of an airship, the surrounding air will do just fine as an oxidizer. You just need a flame to get it going; burning hydrogen will suffice.
Napalm and sticky napalm, small batches, just to do it as a yute, not thermite. I had magnesium, but no barium peroxide.
BTW, kerosene and Palmolive doesn't burn worth a damn, but it makes a great hand cleaner.
Yep that makes sense. Letting the cable touch the ground first discharges whatever difference there is between the helicopter and the ground.
My limited experience with thermite suggests couple of things. One is that it’s quite fiddly, and getting the ingredients powdered finely enough and mixed thoroughly enough is not trivial. Not impossible, but not trivial either. It also is a bit difficult to get started, but once started it really wants to burn to completion. So I see what you’re thinking. I’d have to experiment with it, though, to see if the doped fabric has a thermite reaction or just burns.
Never played with napalm.
Aw, come on, we all know it was Trump’s fault.
He didn’t “solve” anything. It isn’t even original idea (he wasn’t the first to speculate it was “battery effect” set up by damp grounding ropes.).
DANG, what genius !
Agree with you. Static Electricity.
Maybe this explanation is new as to where the charge came from?
Potential between the mast and rope plus there was a leak in the silk that housed the hydrogen.
#8 Someone lit a cigarette right next to the No Smoking sign.
My grandfather had a piece of the Hindenburg in his basement. We was a deliveryman driving by the area when the disaster happened. He stopped to watch, picked up the piece as a curiosity to show the kids.
Unfortunately, my aunt unknowingly threw it out when helping them move. It looked like a bread-box sized curved piece of sheet metal.
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