Adding A Bomb Bay To A Quadcopter

The Fourth of July is fast approaching, and what better way to celebrate the independence of your country than by blowing up a small piece of it? [Anzel360] decided to take that line of thought to a whole new level by adding a bomb bay to his quadrocopter.

[Anzel360] recently upgraded his transmitter to a Spektrum DX8, giving him two extra channels on his four-channel quadrotor. After adding a small servo to the quad, it was a simple matter of taping a box to the undercarriage and filling it full of fireworks.

The ammo [Anzel] is using is just a handful of Snappin’ Pops – otherwise known as the lamest firework ever created. We won’t hold that against him, though; a remote ignition system for a few Black Cats mounted on a fancy quadrocopter is just asking for trouble. We do recall a throwable cap gun bomb from our youth, though, that would allow for year-round ammo replenishment…

24 thoughts on “Adding A Bomb Bay To A Quadcopter

  1. Could you put in a pull-ring fuse (or similar) tethered to the bomb bay, and attached to a more entertaining firework to drop stuff that needs to be lit?

    More danger = more fun (obviously)

    1. Dont need to. get an electric match, they are used for model rocketry. Tape it to the fuse and honestly let the M-80 dangle from the fuse. applying power to the electric match will light the fuse that will burn and release the boom.

      we used to do that with RC airplanes. you could stick 4 of them on a medium sized RC plane and it was really fun making bombing runs.

      1. I had actually thought about the model rocket igniters. Letting the burning fuse do the dropping is a clever solution. However I figured I would start with something that did not have the potential to blow up my quad.

      2. Did the same thing using first stage 1/4A size model rocket motors to make working rockets/missiles on our R/C planes. Stick a firecracker in the nose and let the motor light it for you…

  2. as I said a few years ago… someone will use an FPV (or one with an ardupilot) RC plane as a flying bomb – it’s got so many advantages that it is just a matter of time

    once that happen RC planes/UAV will be heavily restricted and you’ll need a licence to buy parts and fly them

      1. by these things you mean quadrocopters right ? Well the one featured here is small (there are bigger ones)…. and I was referring to traditional fixed wing planes

      2. You dont need to cause a lot of damage in one go to terrorise people. Lots of small attacks will work too. A copter like could drop a few handgrenades on a crowd, or it could stick a magnetic shaped charge on top of a stationary or slow moving car (for example a cop or politician, etc). And the operator could be 5 blocks away using a smartphone. The possibilities are practically limitless.

    1. Actually contrary to thought, there are bills currently being worked on to allow greater use of UAV drones in domestic airspace (currently military drones aren’t legal in our own airspace because of FAA)

      1. SirBlade says:
        You dont need to cause a lot of damage in one go to terrorise people. Lots of small attacks will work too.

        Attacks that small don’t need elaborate airborne delivery. Why cry wolf about Death From Above, when we already have a decade of roadside IEDs for inspiration?

  3. Section 2 (i) of the Safety Code of the Academy of Model Aeronautics is there for a reason ( http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/105.PDF ). Airborne pyrotechnics are uninsurable. Don’t ignite Colorado, or for that matter your convertible’s upholstery.

    That being said, the discussion on the AMA forums about so-called drones, FAA legislation, and the true threat from misused hobby RC is much better informed than what you get from sensationalist TV news.

    1. That being said, the discussion on the AMA forums about so-called drones, FAA legislation, and the true threat from misused hobby RC is much better informed than what you get from sensationalist TV news.

      Any thoughts on the threat of DIY cruse missiles? There was a guy in New Zealand that built a small cruise missile back in 2004-ish for around $2000.

      I’ve thought about it myself, and with a pulse jet it would be possible to launch a missile from a farm in Maryland and hit something in DC. Basically, an updated version of a V1.

      Of course it wouldn’t do much (if any) damage, but that’s really not the point of a terror weapon, is it?

      1. Brian, no chatter in AMA about cruise missiles as such (see http://www.modelaircraft.org/forums/tm.aspx?m=19 and related). The consensus about threat has several points:
        – small payload
        – few fanatics have the patience for proper testing
        – few fanatics grasp enough aeronautics to even choose an appropriate “ready to fly” model

        But Rezwan Ferdaus “terrorized” us even while getting arrested before flying or even buying anything of consequence, so your point stands. It’s not about delivering kabooms.

      2. Yah. The DIY cruise missile wasn’t illegal by any law they could find, so they audited his taxes, got him fired from his job, and basically made his life hell till he dropped the project. It never actually got finished, and he lost everything.

    2. I haven’t checked in on them in awhile but FPVlabs has a thread dedicated to hobby UAV’s and the law (which currently really suck and only show signs of getting worse).

      It is VERY illegal to arm anything RC in the USA. but it’s kind of like FCC laws (if no-one complains it didn’t happen)

  4. DHS? around here local law enforcement would be your worry. Lame or not those might be the only”fireworks allow because of the drought, and I’m not sure of that. The sale,and use of fireworks has been banned in much of this area. While nothing of the magnitude of the CO fires. the rural fire department have been busy with grass fire for some time now. Anyway this looks to have been a quick way to have some holiday fun using what’s at hand.

      1. In places like CO and parts of CA most of the wild fire problem ironically is due to the fact they don’t do controlled burns as in those environments fire is a natural part of the ecology some trees and shrubs even need fire to release their seeds.
        After years of fire suppression the brush builds up and when a fire does happen and cannot be controlled it’s much hotter and destructive then it normally is.

    1. If there are problems with fires, a few quad copters with cheap FIR cameras and a RF link could be life savers. A very good way to build up some brownie points with the cops.

      Cop 1: “Hey Mark, have you heard what those kids have been doing with those RC helicopter things?”

      Cop 2: “What, you mean the ones they leant us to spot the fires a few months back? Yea, they saved my bother-in-law’s skin and some other fire fighters when the fire almost trapped them? No, what have they done now?”

      Cop 1: “…”

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