E-520
ƒ/5.6
150 mm
1/800
100

From the Valentine’s Day launch – burning love & rockets!

It was a perfect launch day. A film crew from Discovery Channel was shooting a special called “Time Warp” with high speed cameras.

They did a mockup of a A4 (V2 precursor) for their example. It was about 18’ tall and fabricated out of aluminum. They had it rigged to begin lifting off, tip over and explode on its side on the pad.

a “historical reenactment” of an “A4 testing accident”. In other words, Time Warp hired a pyrotechnician to blow up an A4/V2 mockup that they built, using about 60 gallons of gasoline, some det cord to disburse it into a cloud, and a burning puddle of gasoline and a bunch of titanium ignited by a black powder charge to set the cloud alight.

Photo by Rick Dickinson (and please note that this spectacle was not part of the ROC launch events); prelaunch shot of the V2 below.

35 responses to “V2 Big Bada Boom”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Pad prep:
    V 2.1

    Reply
  2. PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE Avatar
    PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE

    L’ amour est feu !!!
    Love is fire !!!!

    Kaboummmm Rico !!!

    Reply
  3. brentdanley Avatar
    brentdanley

    Wonderful talk!

    http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/225

    Reply
  4. swift robin Avatar
    swift robin

    Awesome!……

    Reply
  5. ideastoday Avatar
    ideastoday

    Looks like it went *really* wrong, as per the plan.

    Reply
  6. conformation_change Avatar
    conformation_change

    Whew! I saw the title and thought something bad happened to that awesome new V2 you posted you were working on!

    Reply
  7. jared Avatar
    jared

    Who volunteered to park their van there? Haha, great shot!

    Reply
  8. AMagill Avatar
    AMagill

    Sounds like a fun project to figure out how to set up a rocket like that to fail in a very particular catastrophic way.

    Reply
  9. selva Avatar
    selva

    Is that a camera + tripod getting destroyed in the fireball?

    Reply
  10. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    heh… They usually survive. There is a bit of perspective compression from the 150mm telephoto. (here’s an extreme test of that if it’s unfamiliar)

    I do worry about the van’s paint as the glow can be seen on it…

    AMagill: I’m with you on that. It’s an art all to itself. I’m guessing a trade guild of experiential learning

    conformation_change: no, she is still undergoing computer simulation for N motors…. But the gasoline here is more visually interesting than my last ballistic V2

    Reply
  11. heet_myser Avatar
    heet_myser

    That is delicious.

    Reply
  12. !MimosaMicheMichelle! Avatar
    !MimosaMicheMichelle!

    Never a dull moment…and I would like it like that! The fire ball is awesome!

    Reply
  13. BenODen Avatar
    BenODen

    That’s just an impossibly delicious fireball, and it’s even sweeter that no spirits were hurt in the making of this boom!

    Reply
  14. Victor1 Avatar
    Victor1

    Is that a barbecue turned sideways over by the van?… one way to light the coals I guess…

    Reply
  15. TEG2 Avatar
    TEG2

    I can’t help but think of global warming when I see that kind of free burn.

    Reply
  16. TomiTapio Avatar
    TomiTapio

    Sweet colours.

    Reply
  17. maborg.to.it Avatar
    maborg.to.it

    Nice to see our environment polluted for fun! wooooow!

    Reply
  18. BenODen Avatar
    BenODen

    HAH, well, think of it this way, if it gets to video that makes a satisfying show that we don’t have to reproduce with more pollution causing flames.

    Reply
  19. rocketmavericks Avatar
    rocketmavericks

    Were you there?

    They filmed this at last weeks TRA certified ROC launch?

    It was a mock-up, right? No motor, they just filled a dummy rocket container with kerosene, pulled it over and lit it on fire?

    Not sure I see the point. What am I missing?

    Reply
  20. CrayonRocketry Avatar
    CrayonRocketry

    This is my photograph, not Wedge Oldham’s. Wedge was not in attendance at the ROC launch on February 14th. If you check the original size photo, you will see my copyright notice in the EXIF data.

    Here’s the text of a message I posted last night to the TRA and ROC Chat lists about the Time Warp A4/V2:

    ===========================

    Subject: The full story of the "Time Warp" flaming A4/V2

    Everyone,

    Based on a phone call I just received from a Tripoli Board member, it seems that I need to officially clarify a few things before silly stories and rumors get completely out of hand. I’m sending this to ROC and to the Tripoli member chat list, to get the word out.

    The Discovery Channel show "Time Warp" came to the February 14th launch hosted by ROC, the Rocketry Organization of California. During the ROC launch, they shot a lot of footage of rockets launching, as well as a few static tests of motors.

    After the ROC launch ended, after the waiver had been closed, under their own permits, and at a location on Lucerne Dry Lake that is quite a long distance south of the site where ROC holds launches, the folks from Time Warp did a "historical reenactment" of an "A4 testing accident". In other words, Time Warp hired a pyrotechnician to blow up an A4/V2 mockup that they built, using about 60 gallons of gasoline, some det cord to disburse it into a cloud, and a burning puddle of gasoline and a bunch of titanium ignited by a black powder charge to set the cloud alight.

    It was a spectacular sight, but it was entirely unconnected to the ROC launch or the Tripoli Rocketry Association. It wasn’t "allowed" or condoned by ROC or Tripoli, or in any way done under our auspices — it was something that *the TV show* did, and we were just spectators who got to witness the carnage (and a number of us with long telephoto lenses on our cameras got some great photos, too).

    We’ve had a bit of fun posting pictures, but I want to make it clear: this was a TV special effect, done by a TV crew, under their own permits and at their own direction. They had the fire department on-site with an ambulance and a water truck standing by, and the entire scene was under the control of a licensed pyrotechnician. No one was anywhere near it when it blew up, and as I said earlier, IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ROC LAUNCH, OR WITH TRIPOLI.

    We now return you to your regularly-scheduled ranting.

    Thanks,

    – Rick Dickinson
    ROC Board Member

    Reply
  21. BenODen Avatar
    BenODen

    TIME WARP! Oh man, I’m so glad to anticipate this show of warped rockets! Thanks for the inside scoop Rick!!

    Reply
  22. rocketmavericks Avatar
    rocketmavericks

    Thanks for the clarification, Rick. I didn’t think this was a real rocket being flown under Tripoli regulation or at a ROC event. This is just so outside what any of us would even think about allowing within our prefectures or organizations. I know we would never permit such activities at Mavericks.

    Reply
  23. anadeluz Avatar
    anadeluz

    wow super shot
    seen Explore

    Reply
  24. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Rick – thanks for the clarification. I edited the caption to correct the photo attribution and added a clarifying notice up front to help remove confusion. The erroneous detail came from the email that was sent to me. Before posting the photo, I emailed back to clarify that "ROC President" was Wedge and that it was OK to publicly share the photo. Happy to edit further. Given the error rate so far, did it tip over prior to detonation?

    Reply
  25. tmspres Avatar
    tmspres

    amazing shot! I love it!

    Reply
  26. Soleil is me. Avatar
    Soleil is me.

    Congrats; An interesting image:)
    Your photo is gorgeous and inspire art worked. Such a great artistic eyes to captured/treatment. I pleasure and honor to give you the awards. Feel free and happy to display your best photos to My amazing groups;

    Honor to invite you to be happy at:-

    SPLENDID PHOTO…YOUR PHOTO IS
    INVITED TO MY SPECIAL GALLERY.
    The door of wisdom are never shut but seldom opened.

    Kornrawiee’s Gallery…Invite ONLY

    SPLENDID PHOTO YOUR PHOTO WINS THE BEST IN THE INSPIRE GROUP…
    INSPIRE… Invite ONLY…
    You are INVITED to display this wonderful photo in the INSPIRE Pool, and give 2 awards to your best friends.

    Reply
  27. amishval Avatar
    amishval

    Excellent capture!

    Reply
  28. aire fuego tierra agua Avatar
    aire fuego tierra agua

    Impresionante bada boom

    Reply
  29. Whipper_snapper Avatar
    Whipper_snapper

    Wow!

    Reply
  30. MarkCuerden Avatar
    MarkCuerden

    *cries* My van~!

    Reply
  31. Today is a good day Avatar
    Today is a good day

    Wow!

    Reply
  32. CrayonRocketry Avatar
    CrayonRocketry

    The A4 model that they blew up was not an actual rocket, as you have already guessed. It was fabricated out of sheet metal (aluminum, if I recall correctly) over a framework of some sort, and had no rocket motor of any sort.

    The TV show was, as I mentioned above, "Time Warp" (and not "when rockets go wrong" or anything like that). They spent the majority of the day filming actual rocket launches, along with static tests of several motors held in a stand in front of the cameras. For those who haven’t seen the show before, they use ultra-high-speed cameras to give a super-slow-motion look at all sorts of things. Previous shows have looked at things like skeet shooting, popping soap bubbles, chainsaw juggling, and fireworks.

    To end their show with a spectacular "grand finale" that they could claim was sort-of-vaguely-connected with rocketry, they "simulated" a testing failure of an A4 at Peenemunde. ("A4" was the original series designation of the rocket design that Hitler eventually renamed as "V2" when he made it the second "vengence" weapon for nazi Germany.)

    It was cool to watch the explosion in person, and then get a chance to see the slo-mo playback of the explosion, but it really bore no relation with our hobby, whatsoever. Such is television.

    I have to admit that they did do quite a bit to get the historical appearance correct, however. If you watch historical footage of some of these failed A4 test flights, you’ll see ignited fuel sprayed all over the pad area, the rocket settling back on the pad, starting to fall over, and then exploding as the internal LOX and fuel tanks ruptured. The pyrotechnician did a good job of "faking it".

    The white van in the photo actually had to be parked there. The high-speed cameras are tethered to data capture computers in the van, at the limit of their cables. To the right of the van you can see the generator powering all the equipment, and a high-speed camera on a tripod.

    The van, generator, and camera are actually farther from the fake rocket than they appear in the photos, as my shots were taken from over a thousand feet away with a long telephoto lens. Telephoto shots tend to artificially compress the appearance of perspective.

    I’ve got a lot more photos that I took that day in an album on my http://www.crayonphotos.com web site, in the "ROC February 2009" album. The "A4 explosion" sequence is on the last few pages of the album.

    Prints are, of course, available for purchase.

    – Rick Dickinson

    Reply
  33. Kaets Ebut Avatar
    Kaets Ebut

    MacGruber!!!

    Reply
  34. Hailey Bailey Avatar
    Hailey Bailey

    Whoa! :-0

    Reply
  35. charlieruud Avatar
    charlieruud

    .
    congrats Vet . . . super shot

    Reply

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