Filming a bomb detonation

Azurite · Mar 14, 2019

I'm rather excited about my trip planned for tomorrow, we will be blowing up a 750lb aircraft bomb dropped during the Vietnam war. About 30% of the general purpose bombs dropped in Laos in the 70's did not explode. This particular one has a tamper-proof chemical fuse so it is not safe to move the bomb away from the town. Significant earthworks and sandbags have been emplaced to protect the houses, the nearest of which is 26m away. Attached are two happy snaps from a test flight yesterday showing the blast wall made from sandbags and the proximity of buildings. There will be two drones flying for the actual demolition tomorrow, one PP4 set about 350m away and 100m high, the other MP2 will be almost directly above the bomb at about 450m altitude (legal where I am and all local aviation has been informed of the blast). Unfortunately it is very smoky here now as it is burn-off season for the local farmers, so we'll have to see what the visibility is like but I am a bit cautious getting too close! Will post more after the blast, assuming my drone survives.

Photo-Sorko · Mar 14, 2019

I'm really exited for the results. Do you also have a chance to record the audio? At least with a Smartphone?

Greetings
Jürgen

Azurite · Mar 14, 2019

Great idea, thanks Jürgen, I'll see what I can do. Given that I have to be at least 1000m away for safety reasons, I might have to borrow the audio from the two go-pro's that will also be recording. The drone will also be used as a security clearance to make sure no-one is in the blast radius.

RCdancer · Mar 14, 2019

Too bad you don't have an M2ED with you - would be interesting to see thermal video of it. Be sure to post the video. Thumbswayup

sar104 · Mar 14, 2019

That will give the M2P a bit of a kick at 450 m - the peak pressure will be around 1.3 kPa. It should survive that pressure just fine, however, and is going to be out of range of case fragments. The P4P is a bit more marginal, depending on the casing material.