Originally Posted by
aircraft engineer
gee nice - it's not quite that simple to make NG either - a totally controlled environment is required because of the combination of shock sensitivity and temperature sensitivity. They aren't "mix it and it works" either - there's a significant time required to react to form the nitrate
Actually it can be a fairly fast (and thus explosively uncontrollable) reaction, thus normally done with slow controlled acids addition, mild agitation and, most importantly, refrigeration. I could probably obtain a reaction rate info if necessary. For a suicide-bent terrorist on a hours long flight I seriously doubt if they know what is or require a consistently uniform explosive product.
MisterNice