Page 19 - Demo

Application of dry ice had to be done by scooping it out through aircraft windows. Apparently, it was a very distressing operation. Once the aircraft window was opened for dry ice seeding, the strong wind would blow in, bringing back the dry ice inside the aircraft and at one time it got into M.R. Debbrihi’s ears and damaged his eardrums. In spite of a great pain and suffering, he continued until the end of the operation. For this test, Nong Taku Special Army Airport, in Pak Chong District (of which the elevation was 1,500 feet above sea level) was used as the operational base. The method used in the operation was adopted from the method practiced in other countries (i.e. seeding granulated dry ice at the top of cumulus cloud). This type of cloud is a big rain cloud, in triangular shape, which looks like a hill from a side view. The top of a cumulus cloud shapes like a dome, or a cauliflower, with the colour as white as cotton wool. The base of the cloud is a straight horizontal line with dark shadows. It is a low altitude cloud which usually occurs at not higher than 6,500 ft. It is the most suitable cloud for rainmaking (another method used in the test was spraying water into a cumulus cloud). Approximately 15 minutes after the operation, the cloud was packed and became bigger. Its top was built up higher and the base of the cloud changed its colour from white to dark gray and rain seemed imminent. Unfortunately, rain could not be observed as mountains peaks obscured the view.
When His Majesty heard about the experiment at Pak Chong and the trouble of the experiment team had encountered, His Majesty suggested changing the location to Bo Fai Airport in Hua Hin District of Prachuab Khiri Khan Province. His Majesty considered the location suitable for conducting the experiments because there were various types of topography such as mountains, highlands, plains, and the sea. Flooding which might result from the test would not pose a problem because excess
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