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Fuel Dinosaur -> RE: Ethanol (5/4/2008 4:19:45 PM)
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Yes you can buy nitromethane still in the U.S. as an individual. I buy 30-gallon barrels and 5 gallon pails and I promise you, they (VP Racing and other companies) want to know what you are going to do with it. In my bag of degrees, I have a BS in chemistry and a lot of advanced organic and inorganic chemistry, so can buy it regularly. I also have a pesticide license to apply herbicides and insecticides to my fields. One reason higher compression engines are sold overseas is that many modelers simply do not have the access to nitromethane we have here in the states. Possibly except for contest and racing, we use far more than most engines require and we are lucky to have a good reliable idle and more top end power, and good throttle transition. I remember the times at the King Orange Internationals in Miami, and smelled the nitrobenzene people were using in their fuels, propylene oxide and just about any other edge they could get in racing events. The nitrobenzene is the smell you smell most in Kiwi shoe polish. A number of folks still use a few percent acetone for easier starting and a better idle when nitromethane is in short supply. And yes, you can still buy ammonium nitrate fertilizer. I'll bet you a donut to a hole in a donut it is now marked by at least manufacturer, if not individual lots. My son was going to use it to take up a few stumps. Filled the entire hole with it and the appropriate solvent and ignition method. Worked really great, but after he busted out ALL the windows on the back of his house, he thought a bulldozer might do better. :-) I am sorry about the high hazardous materials fees to ship fuels. It is kind of ironic that you can ship large amounts in quarts, but the same amount, or even less in gallon jugs, is so hazardous. The logic of that kind of escapes me. It is a great hobby or sport, take your pick, and I have met a lot of very nice people while flying a lot and crashing a little. :-)
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