Subj: | One little detail... |
Date: | 5/22/01 6:54:33 PM Pacific Daylight Time |
...that keeps getting overlooked in regards to the OKC bomb:
Do a search at Da' Goog on "Anhydrous Hydrazine" or
"Nitromethane near McVeigh". You will find that those delightful
little chemicals figured into the action there.
Now, here comes the interesting part:
Mixing Nitromethane(an oxygen-rich industrial solvent used in the
printing industry to clean printing presses and in motorsports,
especially drag and sprint car racing as a racing fuel) and
Anhydrous Hydrazine(a compund used in rocket fuels) creates a
highly explosive and *very* unstable mixture. Back in the mid to
late '60s, there was a lot of experimentation with this mixture to
create horsepower in drag racing engines. While the amount of
horsepower created was not what people were hoping, there were
many problems with unintended effects, i.e.:explosions that tore
the front off of the Top Fuel Dragsters when they would land hard
after launching into a wheelstand, a rather common occurance in
the dragsters of that era. Seems that not only was the mixture that
unstable, but the mixture created crystalline deposits that built up
on the inside of the front-mounted fuel tanks. These crystals were
said to be very, very unstable and explosive.
Well, the National Hot Rod Association, being very safety-minded,
outlawed Anhydrous Hydrazine as a fuel additive after a few of
these little accidents.
I am sure that you are wondering "So, what's the point of this
drivel?". I assure you, there is a point. In fact, a few:
1. Anhydrous Hydrazine reacts with Nitrogen-rich compounds to
give you "more bang for the buck". Too often, there have been
those that have said "An ANFO bomb could never have done
*THAT*". They are quite correct. But a nitrogen-based fertilizer and
fuel oil bomb, spiced up with more nitrogen-rich Nitromethane and
then finished off with Anhydrous Hydrogen and detonated with the
help of bottled propane(as a blast direction agent, kinda like the
world's biggest "Foo Gas" bomb), or a fuel air bomb, potentiated by
the initial explosion being compressed by taking place in the
aluminum-reinforced fiberglass box on a 24ft Rider Truck?
It's possible, pilgrim. Merely *possible*.
2. The addition of Nitromethane and Anhydrous Hydrazine has
really nagged at me. Has anyone investigated the backgrounds of
any of the peripheral players in this little clambake? Do any of
them have any experience in Drag Racing or Sprint Car Racing,
especially in the late '60s and early '70s? This is kinda arcane and
specific knowledge, tied to a specific era in motorsports, and can
certainly be used to neck down the focus of any honest inspection
of circumstances and players. Lemme put it to you this way: I
would eat my hat if this combination wasn't offered up as a plan by
someone who didn't have specialized information and experience.
Like in Drag Racing. In the '60s and '70s.
Full Stop.
So there you go, just a little off the top of my head about
something that has been nagging me about all of this, for quite a
while. Perhaps some of the sleuths can illuminate the above, either
in favour or against. Makes no never mind to me.
Subj: | Re: "Anhydrous Hydrazine" or "Nitromethane near McVeigh" |
Date: | 5/23/01 5:47:15 AM Pacific Daylight Time |