Happy 4th Of July!!
 

Okay -- HAPPY 4TH OF JULY everyone!! Be safe - not sorry!

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So.... thought I might post a few pics up of what I would normally be doing this last 10 days or so... (I'm an internationally licensed pryo and have done many of the shows in New York City - Vegas - Korea etc)


This would be me.... after catching an 8" mortar... and dropping it in the rack. This is ONE barge (each barge in NYC has TWO pyros - there's typcially 6 barges total for that show.... in 2000 we had 13 barges!!). A typical barge has 4500 shells (in NYC - which is the largest show - period).

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My buddy Lee -- a rather big boy -- throws the mortar to me... and YES THEY ARE HEAVY -- this is thick wall steel - with a heavy bottom! He throws it to me so that I really just catch it and drop it in... I'm standing up on the rack in this shot. BTW -- If I miss it -- it goes past me and into the water (we're on a barge!).

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The "mother of all shells" --- this is an ATTEMPT to create a shell 50 INCHES in diameter. I'm in the plaid shirt.... the short one. And this was taken while I was at a munitions factory in Inchon, Korea.

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At noon on the 4th -- a large tug hooks up to each barge and pushes us up into position - mid town in the East River (NYC)... where we do a bunch of final prep and checks (two of us per barge plus one or two firemen). There is a barge between us and the tug - a 'safety' distance... and we can use the facilities etc on the tug - because we won't see land again until 2 or 3 AM on the 5th. Note the background of this photo!

PS -- The big mortars in the sanded barrels -- those are 10" and 12" shells! The mortars weigh a couple hundred POUNDS each...

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Here's a 3" shell - deconstructed.... Note that the CENTER of this shell is nothing but COATED WHEAT or RICE... it's the stuff you see that FLOATS down and fizzles etc... funny huh! BTW -- the shells have a lift charge fuse - the long one - then a lift charge (black powder) on the bottom which then ignites the timed fuse in the center (see it?) and that then does the detonation of the shell.

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Happy 4th Greg and everybody else.


Tonny

In my opinion Greg, you have/or had the coolest job, thanks for sharing that. I would have loved to see a 50" shell go off.

Happy 4th to all....and take a moment to reflect on why we celebrate it!

that's awesome, i was actually kinda curious how those things were made and launched.
so whatever happened to that 50" shell?? and was there ever a plan on how to launch it? just a huge mortar?

and happy 4th everyone!

Awesome pics Greg. I like the one with the Twin Towers in the background.
HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!:patriot: :patriot:

wow thats cool I always wondered about the work that went into those huge shows..

Thats really cool Greg-how the heck does one become an internationally licensed pyro guy - amazing job. Mike Roe needs to do a feature on you, may not be a dirty job but certainly a cool one.

Rich

Enjoy yourself...:cheers:

Very cool Greg and hapy 4th to you and your Fam.:cheers:

I could tell ya -- but then I'd have to kill ya....

Mike Roe did a show on making shells... in a little tiny one man 'factory' - it was "interesting" but not how they're REALLY made... but close enough.

We call it "getting corn dogged" --- because of course in New York - or most places in the country other than the good old Pacific NorthWET - it's HOT on the 4th -- and prior - when you're doing this work. You tend to sweat a lot -- and the RUST and the spent burnt paper and the left over sand etc - all manage to stick to you... so you're like like a corn dog (a guy dipped in batter). It's sucks and tends to chafe you in places you don't want to be chaffed.

These BIG shows -- take a few days to build - before you can load the shells... lots and lots of "physicality" (LOL) in building this stuff. It's all heavy -- and there's no machinery except your back. Lug - tug - pitch - catch - push - lift - and then twist wire for a couple of days... oh -- and lots of hammering/nailing.... Angles to figure out... locations... it's a CRAPPY JOB! But the most fun a guy that is barely above an idiot (me) can do.
And I forgot to mention -- I'm also a "shooter".... so am 60 feet from the closest shells going off... and the 10's and 12's shake the whole barge -- and you get the lift charge going off before the detonation... it's WAY KOOL STUFF. Worth the effort it takes to build it and take it all apart on the 5th!

Putting it all back in the containers on the 5th! I'm the short idiot in the red.


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The barge next to us --- showing the lift charge "fire".... EEEEEEEHHHHHHAAAAAAA
It has a sound like "kaaaa whooooophf"......

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