We want to blow up your warbird
Bill the Byron Zero we blow up at each show (one a day for four days in August) carried a good sized bag of black powder. This Zero also carried a smoke bomb and at the proper time was sent aloft off a wheeled dolly. A Corsair of other US plane would get on it's tail and pretend to shoot at it. After a bit the smoke bomb was started and the Zero headed outfield away from the crowd. When it was far enough away it would be detonated and usually a wing would blow off and it would spin madly to the ground.
This show also included an anti air craft gun made of a hundred pipes each containing a timed charge. The pipes were detonated one at a time and shot the charge into the air where it exploded. This charge would sometimes hit one of our showplanes as it did with the 150lb C-47 I flew. It almost blew the tail off!
Other scary items was the Mustang I flew with six Estas rockets. I could fire all six or one at a time. I like to fire all six so it could be heard above all the other explosions and engine noise.
Twelve or more planes would be in the air at one time during the show and the smoke and explosions would often cloud our view of our planes. I learned to just keep all controls as the were before I went behind the smoke!
All effects and explosions were designed by "Rambo" our Hollywood effects expert. He was the man that made it all work and he often wore a t-shirt with the saying "If you see me running, try to keep up!"
The final "Atomic Bomb" explosion was a 500 gallons of gas and some black powder in a large hole in the ground. It did send a mushroom cloud a thousand feet into the air and stopped traffic on a nearby interstate!
The show was held on private property and we were all insured by the show promoters. It was was once in a life time, never to happen again.
Paul