Lightweight smoke bombs for your projects!
Hi all,
Got the idea from Alpha during today's live show to share here the details about the smoke cartridges that I use for some of my EDF jet videos.
For years I have been looking for ways to use smoke on my birds and sadly there are not that many options, particularly not for small aircraft, and even less cheap ones.
Besides, smoke systems (other than smoke bombs) often require quite an installation and increase aircraft weight which is often a no-go for many pilots.
In this regard, the best stuff I've found so far are small 18g cartridges manufactured by a swedish company called Björnax. The models I've tested are the Ventilax (white smoke) and the AX-18 (coloured smoke).
DISCLAIMER: I am not sponsored by them and all of the cartridges I used I bought myself. This is not aimed as promotion but as a way to share with the communnity what I've found works best for me. Hopefully others can chime in with their own ideas and products/suppliers so we have a greater range to choose from.
I use the 18g cartridges because they are not only lightweight, but slim, so they often don't destroy the scale looks of the plane. There are 60g versions too with presumably much more visible effect and duration but they are huge cartridges by comparison and will typically not look great unless installed as underslung bombs or something.
This said, one has to have several things in mind about this type of smoke bombs.
Aircraft protection: These cartridges don't quite burn with a visible flame but they heat up a lot. If attached directly to the plane, they will damage it. Oh, and the coloured smoke also 'paints' the plane, so be careful with that! I use a wooden plate to separate a bit the cartridges and thermally isolate the plastic and foam of the plane's wingtips. Despite this, I've burnt them a bit and they need a repaint after a while. It may prove useful to have a separate set of wings dedicated to the smoke exclusively if you plan to fly with it a lot. I guess one could build a good isolating structure with beer cans too... I have to try that yet.
Securing the cartridge: The 'wooden' plate I use to hold the cartridges is glued with contact glue to the wingtips, and I secure the cartridges with aluminum tape on the forward end of the cartridge. Normal tape would burn (Duh!) so...
You don't want to cover the whole cartridge in tape either as it may starve for oxygen.
Lighting them up: You could install a remote, electrical smoke-bomb lighting setup with fuses... but it's quite a hassle and it adds to the cost (fuses are not cheap either) so I don't find this approach desirable. Reset time would be too long also. This said, normal lighters are not easy to use with these cartridges, so I buy special 'blowtorch style' lighter-burners that produce a concentrated and pressured flame and light the cartridges in no time. Right what you need for this to work out. Link below (Not advertising).
Burn duration: They do not last long... typically they burn for about 2 minutes and depending on the particular cartridge they may stop sooner, leaving some part 'unburnt', so as soon as they are lit you want to be in the air already!
Ideal conditions: The smoke is pretty pointless on windy days, as turbulence quickly disperses it and it loses all the charm. On that same note, the results vary a lot depending on lighting conditions, background color and aircraft speed. The faster you fly, the thinner the smoke gets. It usually pops out more when flying high alpha as you can see smoke swirling around the wingtip vortices. Seeing properly the smoke trails against either overcast or blue skies in strong daylight may often prove difficult. By trial and error I've found a few very particular conditions where the trails pop out better. Typically when there are dim backlight conditions that make the smoke look dark (as it produces a shadow). Also when the sun is low and the sky is dark and the smoke gets directly iluminated by the sun against the dark backdrop. Flying against a forest, mountain range or equivalent helps things out as the smoke pops easily against darker backgrounds.
Smoke color: I have experimented with white, orange and red. White cartridges (Ventilax) were slightly cheaper but they are harder to see most of the time and had a lot of units 'misfire' throughout the flight and not burn to the end. AX-18 coloured smoke seemed to last longer and also popped up better against both pale sky and dark background.
Personally I think I achieved best results with red (which kinda looks more like pink), but some viewers pointed out they preferred orange... so that's up to personal preference I guess.
Usage: Flying with smoke is, first and foremost... ADDICTIVE! But you kinda want to re-learn how to fly to make the most out of it, because there's little time to enjoy the smoke and not all maneuvers pop-out. Low and slow high alphas are fantastic, tailslides usually turn out very cool too, and depending on the model used and cartridge installation you may be able to witness the formation of smoke rings or other cool effects. Smoke gives you a direct visual cue/feedback of how the plane is 'bending airflow into submission' so it also gives an indication of how efficient you are flying and how you are controlling your plane. Smoother control usually results in cleaner vortices that look cooler in the air. Otherwise the smoke highlights any and all 'mistakes' in piloting, so it's really an experience to try and get it looking cool with the smoke on! Sadly, you have little time to practice as it's kinda expensive.
Price: These cartridges are not exactly cheap. A pack of 5 typically costs 10-15€. Since you typically burn 2 per flight, that's 4-6€ each flight... so not something one would really do on a regular basis! I kinda see it only justified to film videos (where the effect gets recorded and forever lasts in the footage) or maybe special occasions such as demo flights at events.
Distributors: There are many, from firework places, to hobby shops (Typically RC / Airsoft) and specialised distributors for checking ventilation systems. Check Björnax webpage (link below) to try and find which one suits you better. I personally found the cheapest deal at the german Amazon, but they have increased prices so they are not the cheapest supplier anymore.
Cartridge manufacturer official site: www.bjornax.se
Here are a couple of links to the cartridges and lighter I used. I link Amazon.de just as an example because that's where I got mine from but you can find them elsewhere.
Cartridge lighter: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Lighter-B...ms&sr=1-7&th=1
AX-18 smoke cartridges: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/18-Smoke-...01MDVL9BF?th=1
@MotionRC, come on, you could make a deal with the manufacturer to get us cheaper smoke bombs, right? lololol
(Dreaming is for free).
Here are some videos of mine in action:
JAS-39 Gripen:
Su-35:
So, this is what I use, now it's your turn!
Do you use smoke on your RC stuff?
And if so, where do you get it from, what brands and models!
Let us know! :D
Got the idea from Alpha during today's live show to share here the details about the smoke cartridges that I use for some of my EDF jet videos.
For years I have been looking for ways to use smoke on my birds and sadly there are not that many options, particularly not for small aircraft, and even less cheap ones.
Besides, smoke systems (other than smoke bombs) often require quite an installation and increase aircraft weight which is often a no-go for many pilots.
In this regard, the best stuff I've found so far are small 18g cartridges manufactured by a swedish company called Björnax. The models I've tested are the Ventilax (white smoke) and the AX-18 (coloured smoke).
DISCLAIMER: I am not sponsored by them and all of the cartridges I used I bought myself. This is not aimed as promotion but as a way to share with the communnity what I've found works best for me. Hopefully others can chime in with their own ideas and products/suppliers so we have a greater range to choose from.
I use the 18g cartridges because they are not only lightweight, but slim, so they often don't destroy the scale looks of the plane. There are 60g versions too with presumably much more visible effect and duration but they are huge cartridges by comparison and will typically not look great unless installed as underslung bombs or something.
This said, one has to have several things in mind about this type of smoke bombs.
Aircraft protection: These cartridges don't quite burn with a visible flame but they heat up a lot. If attached directly to the plane, they will damage it. Oh, and the coloured smoke also 'paints' the plane, so be careful with that! I use a wooden plate to separate a bit the cartridges and thermally isolate the plastic and foam of the plane's wingtips. Despite this, I've burnt them a bit and they need a repaint after a while. It may prove useful to have a separate set of wings dedicated to the smoke exclusively if you plan to fly with it a lot. I guess one could build a good isolating structure with beer cans too... I have to try that yet.
Securing the cartridge: The 'wooden' plate I use to hold the cartridges is glued with contact glue to the wingtips, and I secure the cartridges with aluminum tape on the forward end of the cartridge. Normal tape would burn (Duh!) so...
You don't want to cover the whole cartridge in tape either as it may starve for oxygen.
Lighting them up: You could install a remote, electrical smoke-bomb lighting setup with fuses... but it's quite a hassle and it adds to the cost (fuses are not cheap either) so I don't find this approach desirable. Reset time would be too long also. This said, normal lighters are not easy to use with these cartridges, so I buy special 'blowtorch style' lighter-burners that produce a concentrated and pressured flame and light the cartridges in no time. Right what you need for this to work out. Link below (Not advertising).
Burn duration: They do not last long... typically they burn for about 2 minutes and depending on the particular cartridge they may stop sooner, leaving some part 'unburnt', so as soon as they are lit you want to be in the air already!
Ideal conditions: The smoke is pretty pointless on windy days, as turbulence quickly disperses it and it loses all the charm. On that same note, the results vary a lot depending on lighting conditions, background color and aircraft speed. The faster you fly, the thinner the smoke gets. It usually pops out more when flying high alpha as you can see smoke swirling around the wingtip vortices. Seeing properly the smoke trails against either overcast or blue skies in strong daylight may often prove difficult. By trial and error I've found a few very particular conditions where the trails pop out better. Typically when there are dim backlight conditions that make the smoke look dark (as it produces a shadow). Also when the sun is low and the sky is dark and the smoke gets directly iluminated by the sun against the dark backdrop. Flying against a forest, mountain range or equivalent helps things out as the smoke pops easily against darker backgrounds.
Smoke color: I have experimented with white, orange and red. White cartridges (Ventilax) were slightly cheaper but they are harder to see most of the time and had a lot of units 'misfire' throughout the flight and not burn to the end. AX-18 coloured smoke seemed to last longer and also popped up better against both pale sky and dark background.
Personally I think I achieved best results with red (which kinda looks more like pink), but some viewers pointed out they preferred orange... so that's up to personal preference I guess.
Usage: Flying with smoke is, first and foremost... ADDICTIVE! But you kinda want to re-learn how to fly to make the most out of it, because there's little time to enjoy the smoke and not all maneuvers pop-out. Low and slow high alphas are fantastic, tailslides usually turn out very cool too, and depending on the model used and cartridge installation you may be able to witness the formation of smoke rings or other cool effects. Smoke gives you a direct visual cue/feedback of how the plane is 'bending airflow into submission' so it also gives an indication of how efficient you are flying and how you are controlling your plane. Smoother control usually results in cleaner vortices that look cooler in the air. Otherwise the smoke highlights any and all 'mistakes' in piloting, so it's really an experience to try and get it looking cool with the smoke on! Sadly, you have little time to practice as it's kinda expensive.
Price: These cartridges are not exactly cheap. A pack of 5 typically costs 10-15€. Since you typically burn 2 per flight, that's 4-6€ each flight... so not something one would really do on a regular basis! I kinda see it only justified to film videos (where the effect gets recorded and forever lasts in the footage) or maybe special occasions such as demo flights at events.
Distributors: There are many, from firework places, to hobby shops (Typically RC / Airsoft) and specialised distributors for checking ventilation systems. Check Björnax webpage (link below) to try and find which one suits you better. I personally found the cheapest deal at the german Amazon, but they have increased prices so they are not the cheapest supplier anymore.
Cartridge manufacturer official site: www.bjornax.se
Here are a couple of links to the cartridges and lighter I used. I link Amazon.de just as an example because that's where I got mine from but you can find them elsewhere.
Cartridge lighter: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Lighter-B...ms&sr=1-7&th=1
AX-18 smoke cartridges: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/18-Smoke-...01MDVL9BF?th=1
@MotionRC, come on, you could make a deal with the manufacturer to get us cheaper smoke bombs, right? lololol
(Dreaming is for free).
Here are some videos of mine in action:
JAS-39 Gripen:
Su-35:
So, this is what I use, now it's your turn!
Do you use smoke on your RC stuff?
And if so, where do you get it from, what brands and models!
Let us know! :D
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